<::Jxt^  -5  (^  c 


o  o 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/educationinancieOOswifrich 


EDUCATION 
IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL 


FROM  EARLIEST  TIMES  TO  70  A.D. 


BY 


FLETCHER  H.  SWIFT 

PROFESSOR  OF  EDUCATION 
COLLEGE  OF  EDUCATION,  UNIVERSITY  OF  MINNESOTA 


CHICAGO  LONDON 

THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

1919 


LA4'7 

EOUC 


COPYRIGHT  BY 

THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

Z919 

Reproduced  from  original  edition  by  the 

Carlisle  Lithotone  process  of  printing. 

A.  CARLISLE  &  CO., 

UpHAM  &  RUTLEDGE,   InC. 

135  Post  Street 
San  Francisco 

1936 

EDUCATION  DEFT. 


AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED  TO 

MY  FATHER 

WHO,  FROM   MY  EARLIEST  YEARS, 
TAUGHT  ME  TO  KNOW,  REVERENCE  AND  LOVE  THE  LAW. 


M56924 


PREFACE. 

Most  treatments  of  Hebrew  education  available  in  Eng- 
lish are  either  out  of  date  or  inadequate.  The  longer  one 
studies  the  origins  of  modern  education  the  more  difficult 
does  he  find  it  to  explain  the  meagemess  of  the  accounts  of 
Hebrew  education  thus  far  presented.  Authors  of  educa- 
tional histories  who  have  felt  it  incumbent  upon  them  to 
include  in  their  treatment  of  Greek  education  a  discussion 
of  music,  dancing,  physical  and  military  training,  have 
omitted  these  and  other  equally  important  topics  from  their 
discussions  of  Hebrew  education.  The  fact  that  the  infor- 
mation concerning  these  phases  of  ancient  Hebrew  educa- 
tion is  in  many  cases  meager  and  incomplete  is  no  reason 
for  failing  to  present  such  data  as  are  available. 

The  following  account  is,  I  believe,  the  first  attempt  in 
English  to  give  education  in  Ancient  Israel  any  such  broad 
treatment  as  has  long  been  accorded  to  that  of  other  ancient 
peoples.  There  is  no  people  whose  history  presents  more 
difficulties,  and  none  which  leaves  more  room  for  the  play 
of  the  personal  equation  of  the  writer.  It  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  all  the  positions  presented  in  this  little  volume 
will  commend  themselves  to  every  reader.  It  is  not  offered 
in  any  sense  as  an  apologetic  of  any  theory  of  Hebrew 
history.  Its  aim  is  set  forth  in  the  statement  of  its  problem 
(see  page  4).  It  is  hoped  that  whatever  may  be  its  defects 
it  will  lead  the  reader  to  see  that  the  environment  in  which 
the  native  genius  of  the  Hebrews  ripened  was  a  rich  and 
varied  one,  and  that  the  educative  influences  were  many, 
not  few.    If,  in  addition  to  this,  it  stimulates  future  writers 


VI  PREFACE. 

Upon  Hebrew  education  to  break  away  from  narrow  tradi- 
tional limits  it  will  not  have  been  written  ivy  vain. 

The  fact  that  the  present  account  does  not  extend  beyond 
70  A.  D.  accounts  for  omitting  from  the  bibliography  a 
number  of  standard  authorities  (e.g.,  Grassberger)  which 
deal  solely  or  chiefly  with  post-Biblical  education. 

In  the  spelling  of  Hebrew  words,  the  Jewish  Encyclopedia 
has  been  followed  except  in  cases  where  some  change  seemed 
necessary  in  view  of  the  public  for  whom  the  present  volume 
is  designed. 

An  explanation  of  the  use  of  numerals  and  letters  in  the 
citation  of  authorities  will  be  found  in  the  note  preceding 
the  Bibliography  at  the  end  of  the  volume. 

The  author  wishes  to  acknowledge  the  valuable  assistance 
he  has  received  from  Rabbi  S.  N.  Deinard  of  Minneapolis, 
formerly  professor  of  Hebrew  Literature  and  History,  Uni- 
versity of  Minnesota,  Professor  Julius  H.  Greenstone  of 
Gratz  College,  Philadelphia,  Professor  Theodore  G.  Soares; .  ^ 
of  the  University  of  Chicago,  and  Rabbi  C.  David  Matt  of 
Minneapolis,  each  of  whom  gave  the  manuscript  a  most 
careful  reading  and  whose  criticisms  and  suggestions  have 
led  to  a  number  of  important  revisions. 

Fletcher  Harper  Swift. 
University  of  Minnesota, 
February  5,  1919. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   I. 

PAGES 

The  Native  or  Pre-Exilic  Period,  General  Survey 1—16 

Summary  of  Chapter  3 

Introduction  3—7 

Hebraism  and  Christianity   4 

The  Problem  4 

Periods  in  Hebrew  History  6 

Periods  in  Hebrew  Education  6 — 7 

Historical  Survey  of  the  Native  Period 7 — 11 

The  Conquest   7 

Period  of  the  Judges   8 

Tribal  Kings  and  Monarchy  of  Saul  8 

Reign  of  David,  1010-973  B.  C 9 

Reign  of  Solomon,  973—933  B.  C 10 

Division  of  Kingdom,  933  B.  C 10 

Fall  of  Israel,  723  B.  C 11 

Judah,  933  B.  C— 70  A.  D 11 

Determining  Factors  in  Hebrew  Life 11 — 16 

Nomadism 12 

Environment 12 

Contact  with  Foreign  Nations  13 

Distinctive  Beliefs  and  Religious  Conceptions  13 

Book  of  Instruction  and  Reforms  of  King  Josiah,  621  B.  C. . .     14 

Primitive  Conception  of  Yahweh  15 

Prophetic  Conception  of  Yahweh  IS — 16 

CHAPTER  II. 

Education  During  the  Native  or  Pre-Exilic  Period 17 — 38 

Summary  of  Chapter  19 

General  Characteristics,  Social  and  Religious  19 — ^20 

The  Twofold  Ideal  of  Manhood 20 


Vm  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

rAGES 

Educational  Characteristics  20—21 

Institutions — Subjects — Method 21 

Boys'  Education  in  Tribe  and  Family 21 — 31 

Who  Was  Taught  22 

Teachers 22 

Periods  in  Education  22 

What  Was  Taught 23—31 

Industrial  and  Physical  Training •. 23 

Military  Training  23—24 

Athletics  and  Games  24 

Music— Dancing    24 — 2S 

Oral  Literature — Traveling  Bards  as  Teachers 25 — 26 

Written  Literature — Character  and  Evolution  of  the 

Canon 26 — 27 

Reading  and  Writing  27 

Use  by  Religious  and  Official  Classes 28 

Popular  Use  and  Knowledge  • 28 — 30 

Religion   30 

Morals 30 

Boys'  Education  Outside  of  the  Family 31 — 38 

Institutions  31 

Temples    31 

Teaching  Orders 32 — 38 

Levites  and  Priests  32 — 34 

a.  Origin  32 

b.  Functions,  Services  as  Teachers  33 

Prophets  or  Orator-Teachers  34 

a.  Origin   34 

b.  Entrance  into  Public  Affairs — Characteristics   35 

c.  Literary  Work 36 

d.  Education  in  Prophetic  Communities  . . .". 36 

e.  Services  as  Teachers — Times  and  Places  of  Instruction  37 

f.  Methods ;....  37 

g.  Educational  Importance 38 

CHAPTER  III. 
General  Survey  of  the  Period  of  Reaction  to  Foreign  In- 
fluences, 586  B.  C— 70  A.  D 39—46 

Summary  of  Chapter  41 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  IX 

PAGES 

Historical  Outline 41—44 

Babylonian  Exile,  586—538  B.  C 42 

Literary  Renaissance 42 

Persian  Period,  539—332  B.  C 42 

Greek  Period,  332—167  B.  C 43 

Maccabean  Period,  167—63  B.  C 43 

Roman  Period,  63  B.  C— 70  A.  D 44 

General  Characteristics 44 — 46 

Hierocracy  and  Democracy   44 — 45 

Hellenism — Religious  and  Moral  Decline 45 

The  Diaspora 46 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Education  in  the  Family  After  the  Exile  47 — ^72 

Summary  of  Chapter   49 

The  Family  as  an  Educational  Institution 49 — 53 

Desire  for  Children 49 

Parental  Responsibility 50 

Parental  Authority  a  Divine  Right 51 

Parents  as  Teachers  52 

Conception  of  Child  Nature — Corporal  Punishment  . .     52 — 53 

Periods  in  Child  Life  and  Education '. .     54 — 59 

Childhood  the  Time  for  Learning 54 

Distinguishing  Rites 54 — 59 

Rites  of  Infancy  and  Circumcision 54 

Mothers'  Purification  Rites • 55 

Weaning  Feast 55 

Adolescent  Rites    55 

Circumcision 56 

Zizit    57 

Tefillin  or  Phylacteries 57—58 

Bar  Mizwah 59 

Educational  Significance  of  Period  Rites  59 

Periods  in  School  Life  (Table)   59—60 

What  Was  Taught  60—72 

Industrial  Education 60 

Music 61 

Dancing  61—62 

Religion  •. .     62 — 66 


X  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGBS 

Holiness  as  the  Ideal  62 

Earliest  Religious  Education — The  Mezuzah 62 

Religious  Literature 63 

Prayer 64 

Festivals  in  the  Home  64 

The  Passover  and  Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread- 65 

Morals 66 — 67 

Religious  Basis  66 

Virtues  Emphasized — Obedience  66 — 67 

Manners 68—72 

Religious  Basis       68 

Simplicity,  Meekness  and  Humility 69 

Conversation,  Whispering  69 

Topics  of  Conversation 70 

Curiosity 71 

Table  Manners — Gluttony 71 

Ecclesiasticus  on  Table  Manners 71 

Neighbors 72 

Hospitality * 72 

CHAPTER  V. 

Education  in  School  and  Society  After  the  Exile 73 — ^^108 

Summary  of  Chapter 75 

Educational  Characteristics  and  Tendencies 76—79 

Zeal  for  Education 76 

Place  of  Religion  and  Morals  in  Post-Exilic  Life  and 

Education 77 

The  Scribe  as  the  Post-Exilic  Educational  Ideal  78 

Physical  Education — Greek  Influence 79 

Who  Was  Taught 79 

Teachers 80—86 

Decline  of  Priests  and  Prophets  as  Teachers 80 

The  Soferim  or  Scribes  80 

Origin 81 

The  Ideal  Scribe 82—83 

Educational  Services 84 

Defects  and  Weaknesses  84 

Rabbis ; 84-85 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  XI 

PAGES 

The  Perushim  or  Pharisees 85 

Origin — Characteristics 85 

Educational  Institutions  86—102 

Rise  of  Universal  Education  86 

The  Synagogue  87 — 91 

Origin  and  Spread  87 

General  Character  and  Purpose 87 

Order  of  Service  88 — ^90 

Educational   Significance    90 

Elementary  Schools  91 — ^99 

Origin  and  Extension -. 91 

Compulsory  Education   92 

Rival  Claims  of  Simon  ben  Shetach  and  Joshua  ben 

Gamala 92—95 

Organization  of  Elementary  Schools 95 

a.  Teachers :  Numbers,  Social  Standing,  Rewards  ....  95 

b.  Aim  of  the  Elementary  School 96 

c.  Studies 97 

d.  Texts 98 

e.  Methods,  Reviews,  Incentives  to  Study 98 

Results  of  Elementary  Education   99 

Schools  of  the  Soferim 100—102 

Origin 100 

Studies  100 

a.  The  Halakah , 101 

b.  The  Hagadah :  The  Talmud 101 

Methods  . 101 

Support 102 

Festivals 103^104 

Origin,  Number,  Character  103 

Table  of  Festivals 103—104 

Educational  Significance    103 

The  Temple 104—108 

Influence  Upon  the  Synagogue  104 

Order  of  Service 105—107 

Educational  Significance 107 — 108 


XU  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


PACTS 

Woman  and  the  Education  of  Girls 109 — 116 

Summary  of  Chapter  Ill 

Woman  in  the  Home  and  in  Society , HI 

Social  Status  112 

Daughters  Less  Esteemed  than  Sons  113 

Reverence  and  Respect  for  Women 113 

Ideal  of  Womanhood 113— 115 

Educational  Institutions US 

Aim  and  Content  of  Education  116 

Selected  Bibliography 117 — 125 

Index 127—134 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  NATIVE  OR  PRE-EXILIC  PERIOD. 


THE  NATIVE  OR  PRE-EXILIC  PERIOD. 

GENERAL  SURVEY. 

"For  nearly  two  thousand  years  conceptions, 
standards  and  ideals. .  .originating  in  the  spiri- 
tual experience  of  the  ancient  Hebrews  have  in- 
spired, rebuked,  comforted  and  guided  the  na- 
tions of  an  ever-extending  Christendom."  See 
below,  p.  4. 

Summary  of  Chapter. 

To  the  ancient  Hebrews,  Christendom  owes  the  largest  portion  of 
its  religious  and  moral  heritage.  Our  problem  is  to  discover  how 
thislteritage  arose,  and  what  part  education  played  in  its  development 
and  transmission. 

The  HeJDrews  were  originally  nomadic  tribes.  About  1150  B.  G.^ 
they  invaded  Palestine  which  they  gradually  conquered,  meanwhile 
advancing  from  nomadism  to  agricultural  and  industrial  life.  In  Pal- 
estine the  various  tribes  united  for  a  short  time  in  a  single  monarchy. 
This  monarchy  became  divided  about  933  B.  C.  into  two  rival  king- 
doms,  Judah  and  Israel.  Israel  fell  about  723  B.  C.  Judah  continued 
as  a  nation  with  varying  fortunes  until  70  A.  D. 

The  history  of  Judah  falls  into  two  great  periods,  separated  by 
forty-eight  years,-  586-538  B.  C,  of  enforced  sojourn  in  Babylon, 
commonly  called  the  Exile.  Prior  to  the  Exile  the  Hebrews  borrowed 
much  from  foreign  nations.  Nevertheless,  what  they  borrowed  they 
largely  made  over  in  accordance  with  their  own  native  genius ;  hence, 
we  call  this  period  the  Native  Period. 

INTRODUCTION. 
As  the  Greeks  and  Romans  may  be  said  to  have  special- 
ized unv^ittingly   for  the   race,   the   former  in   intellectual 

1  All  dates  prior  to  586  B.  C.  must  be  considered  approximate,  see 
below,  notes  4  and  5. 

2  Seventy  years,  if  the  Exile  be  considered  (which  it  frequently  is) 
as  continuing  to  the  dedication  of  the  second  temple,  516  B.  C. 


4  EDUCATION   IN   ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

culture  and  the  latter  in  social  institutions  and  law,  so  the 
Hebrews  may  be  described  as  the  people  who  vicariously 
Hebrairtn  and  Created  or  evolvcd  the  major  portion  of  our  re- 
^hrifttianity.  ligious  and  moral  heritage.  One  nation  after 
another  through  the  channel  of  Hebrew  experience  has  ap- 
proached the  Hebrew  God  of  righteousness,  and  risen  to 
spiritual  conceptions  before  unknown  to  it. 

The  early  institutional  divorce  between  Judaism  and 
Christianity  and  the  continued  independent  existence  of  the 
two  has  tended  to  obscure  their  original  relationship.  The 
founder  of  Christianity  was  reared  in  a  Jewish-  home,  went 
to  Jewish  schools^  and  frankly  based  his  sublimest  teachings 
vpon  thf/se  of  the  Hebrew  prophets.  For  nearly  two  thou- 
sand years  conceptions,  standards  and  ideals  reborn  in  the 
teachings  and  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  but  nevertheless 
originating  in  the  spiritual  experience  of  the  ancient  He- 
brews, have  inspired,  rebuked,  comforted  and  guided  the 
nations  of  an  ever-extending  Christendom. 

What  are  the  fundamental  characteristics  of  Hebrew  re- 
ligion and  morals,  what  part  did  education  play  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  religious  and  moral  conscious- 

The  Problem.  .    ,  , 

ness  of  that  race  whose  conceptions  were  des- 
tined to  dominate  the  spiritual  life  of  a  thousand  alien 
peoples  and  whose  literary  monuments  have  for  centuries 
served  as  primer  and  final  text  for  Christendom?  What 
were  the  institutions,  who  were  the  teachers,  what  were  the 
methods  through  which  this  national  consciousness  and  its 
heritage  of  doctrines  and  ideals  were  stimulated,  fostered, 
preserved  and  transmitted?  Before  attempting  to  answer 
these  questions  it  may  be  well  to  recall  the  more  important 
periods  in  Hebrew  history  and  to  survey,  however  briefly, 
a  few  of  the  most  important  events  and  movements  con- 
nected with  each,  as  a  basis  for  interpreting  the  educational 
development  of  the  Hebrews. 

8  A.  Edersheim,  In  the  Days  of  Christ,  Chap.  VII,  118a;  Martin 
Seidel,  In  the  Time  of  Jesus,  pp.  122d-123a. 


THE    NATIVE   OR   PRE-EXILIC   PERIOD. 


TABLE   I. 
PERIODS  IN  HEBREW  HISTORY. 

I.  Nomadism.     From   earliest   beginnings  to   the   conquest  and 
settlement  of  Palestine. 

1.  From  earliest  beginnings  to  invasion  of  Palestine,  1150 
B.  C* 

2.  Period  of  the  Judges:  From  1150  B.  C  or  earlier  to  1030 
B.C. 

II.  Period  of  Monarchy. 

1.  Reign  of  Saul  (at  first  over  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  only) 
1030-1010  B.  C.« 

2.  Reign  of  David,  1010-973  B.  C 

3.  Reign  of  Solomon,  973-933  B.  C. 
Monarchy  divided  933  fi.  C. 

III.  Period  of  the  Rival  Monarchies  Judah  and  Israel :  From  divi- 
sion of  the  monarchy  933  B.  C.  to  fall  of  the  kingdom 
of  Israel,  723  B.  C.s 

TABLE  II. 

PERIODS  IN  THE  HISTORY  OF  JUDAH. 
I.  First  Period  of  Home  Rule:  From  the  division  of  the  mon- 
archy, 933  B.  C,  to  the  beginning  of  the  Babylonian  Exile, 
586  B.  C. 
II.  Under  Foreign  Masters,  586-175  B.  C. 

1.  Under  Babylon,  586-538  B.  C 

2.  Under  Persia,  538-333  B.  C. 

3.  Under  Greece,  Egypt  and  Syria   (Greek  influence  con- 
tinuous), 332-175  B.C.     ■        . 

III.  Home  Rule  Restored  (Maccabean  Period),  175-63  B.C. 

IV.  Under  Rome :  From  Roman  conquest,  63  B.  C,  to  the  fall  of 

Jerusalem,  70  A.  D.  —    ■  ■ 

*  1230  B.  C.  is  the  approximate  date  given  by  many  writers,  see  F. 
Hommel,  The  Civilization  of  the  East,  p.  80;  James  Frederick  Mc- 
Curdy,  History,  Prophecy  and  the  Monuments,  I,  225,  sec.  183,  gives 
1160  B.  C 

5  See  above,  note  1.  How  widely  historians  differ  will  be  seen  by 
comparing  the  dates  in  tables  of  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History, 
pp.  499ff,  with  those  of  H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jews,  VI,  90ff. 

«  722  is  the  date  commonly  given.  723  seems  to  be  well  substan- 
tiated by  the  arguments  of  A.  T.  Olmstead,  Western  Asia  in  the  Days 
of  Sargon  of  Assyria,  p.  45  and  note  9. 


6  EDUCATION   IN   ANCIENT   ISRAEL. 

The  history  of  the  Hebrews  is  the  history  of  the  rise, 
development  and  final  organization  of  a  number  of  Semitic 
Periods  in  tribes  into  a  short-lived  monarchy,  the  division 

Hebrew  History.  ^^  ^^^^  monarchy  into  two  states,  Judah  and 
Israel,  and  the  subsequent  histories  of  these  two  separate 
kingdoms.  Tables  I  and  II  indicate  the  main  periods  in  this 
history. 


J     pa 


to 

^ 

^ 

hs 

Pi  to 

J 

El  « 

o  a  «  «  w 
tc%'o  «  o 

«H  dJ^r 

>,.2  cj  o  o 

•  o  t!  a  o 

o 

HfeO 

wWccccco 

cj  o.S  is 

1  w 

ss 

^„S 

.1 

*co 

to 

Si 

leg 

Is 

»5 

^ 

Q 

p 

a 

H 

•so 

2^- 

-o  .2  cj 

Is 

» 

oJQO 

.22  o 

s 

•2 

^ 

'S 

go 

Q 

tl 

< 
o 

«z 

W 

t=i 

Ss 

S:l 

'3 

II 

4>   H 
Is 

it 

3 

B 

rt  1-1  o 

•o  o  c 

^   <U  <U 

5  3 

X^  bo 

■•-•  3   en 

W   g    C 
Ui    ix    (£ 

O    ^    4) 

<u  O  ^3 

+j   3   c 

-5  8.2?^ 

<u  «  <u  £ 

.i|J§ 

eg   =*  c«  tn 
£  2  li  C 

.2-^.2 

4)^  t>  Jn 


The  periods  in  the  history  of  Hebrew  education  neces- 
sarily follow  closely  the  .periods  of  political  history,  as 


THE   NATIVE  OR   PRE-EXILIC   PERIOD.  7 

changes  in  education  are  always  closely  related  to  political 
and  social  changes.  However,  the  uncertainty  of  our  knowl- 
Periods  in  edge  conceming  the  time  and  origin  of  many 

Hebrew  Educa-   educational  changcs  forces  us  to  be  satisfied 
with  a  somewhat  loose  division.     The  type 
of  dominant  educational  institution  offers  a  concrete  basis 
for  such  a  division.     (Table  III.) 

HISTORICAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  NATIVE  PERIOD. 
It  is,  perhaps,  between  three  and  four  thousand  years 
ago  that  a  number  of  nomadic  Semitic  tribes,  to  be  known 
collectively  to  future  erenerations  as  Israelites, 

The  Conquest.       ,  ,  .  .     .       °  ........ 

began  makmg  their  way  with  their  families, 
flocks  and  herds  into  Palestine,  that  region  of  southwestern 
Asia  which  lies  between  the  eastern  end  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea  and  the  northwestern  border  of  the  Arabian 
desert.  The  fair  and  fertile  country  which  they  were  enter- 
ing and  which  they  were  destined  to  conquer  was  already  in 
the  possession  of  a  kindred  people,  the  Canaanites,  who 
lived  in  walled  cities  and  were  much  in  advance  of  the  in- 
vading nomads  in  industries,  social  institutions  and  modes 
of  warfare. 

The  days  of  invasion  and  conquest  are  wrapt  in  ob- 
scurity. It  appears,  however,  that  the  process  was  long  and 
gradual,  extending  over  several  centuries.®  Bloody  conquest, 
land  purchase  and  intermarriage,  all  played  a  part.  In  the 
end  the  Israelites  were  victorious  and  largely  absorbed  or 
amalgamated  their  vanquished  kinsmen.  Meanwhile  the 
invaders  had  passed  from  the  nomadism  of  the  Arabian 
deserts  to  a  semi-nomadic,  semi-agricultural  life.  Walled 
cities  became  their  homes.  The  tents  of  the  desert  were 
given  up  for  fixed  abodes.® 

The  new  life  and  contact  with  the  more  advanced  Cana- 

8  See  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History,  pp.  73-86,  for  a  critical 
account  of  the  Conquest. 

'^  Chas.  F.  Kent,  Biblical  Geography  and  History,  pp.  87-146,  gives 
a  brief  but  clear  historical  survey  of  the  invasion  and  settlement. 


8  EDUCATION   IN   ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

anites  brought  many  changes,  industrial,  social,  political, 
intellectual  and  religious.  "While  hitherto  not  ignorant  of 
field-labor,  they  became  now  agriculturists  with  settled 
abodes,  houses,  lands,  vineyards  and  olive  yards.  Plowing, 
in  simple  fashion,  sowing  and  reaping,  threshing  and  win- 
nowing, gathering  in  grain  and  fruits. .  .were  added  to  (their 
fo.rmer  occupation  of)  raising  cattle."^''  "It  is  probable  that 
....  (the  Israelites)  learned  from. . . .  (the  Canaanites)  not 
only  agriculture  and  the  simple  arts,  but  also  their  system 
of  weights  and  measures  and  the  mode  of  writing."^^ 

During  the  earlier  centuries  of  the  Conquest  the  various 
tribes  continued  to  maintain,  independent  of  one  another, 
Period  of  the  much  of  the  tribal  organization  brought  from 
Judges.  the  desert.     "The  sheiks  have  a  certain  in- 

fluence due  to  the  purity  of  their  blood,  but  the  influence 
is  never  sufficient  to  coerce  the  freeman  of  the  tribe."^^ 
Nevertheless,  "as  well  defined  communities  arose,  under  the 
influence  of  the  example  of  Canaanite  cities,  municipal  or- 
ganizations were  effected ;  and  we  read  of  'elders  of  the 
city'  (Judges  viii.  16)."^^  This  condition  of  affairs  led  to  a 
period  known  as  the  Period  of  the  Judges,  characterized 
by  the  leadership  of  tribal  heroes  in  the  still  independent 
and  ununited  tribes.  "Out  of  the  need  of  concerted  action 
in  time  of  war  grew  the  tribal  champion  whose  leadership 
extended  beyond  that  of  his  own  tribe ;  and  out  of  the 
chainpion  grew  the  'judge'  or  arbiter  in  time  of  peace."^^  ' 

It  was  only  a  step  for  a  tribe  which  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  follow  tribal  heroes  as  leaders  in  time  of  war  and 
Tribal  Kings  and  to  tum  to  them  to  Settle  disputcs  in  times  of 
Monarchy  of  Saul  peace,  to  clcct  such  a  hcro  as  Gideon,  Jeph- 
thah  or  Abimelech  to  a  permanent  position  of  leadership 
and  bestow  upon  him  the  title  of  king.  This  was  probably 
the  manner  in  which  the  first  step  toward  establishing  ^ 

10  Ismar  J.  Peritz,  Old  Testament  History,  p.  114. 

^^  Ibid.,  p.  118,  p.  117. 

"  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History,  p.  88. 


THE    NATIVE   OR   PRE-EXILIC    PERIOD.  V 

monarchy  was^taken  through  the  election  of  Saul  as  the 
king  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin.^^  Saul's  sway  apparently 
came  in  time  to  include  several  tribes,  but  accurate  knowl- 
edge as  to  the  extent  of  his  domain  is  lacking.^*  What  he 
did  for  its  organization  is  also  left  untold.^^ 

The  next  Israelite  to  gain  an  intertribal  kingship  of 
importance  was  David  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  Brought  to 
Reign  of  David  the  court  of  Saul  in  the  capacity  of  court 
1010-973  B.  c.  minstrel,  he  rose  so  rapidly  in  public  favor 
that  he  aroused  the  jealousy  of  the  king  and  was  obliged 
to  flee  from  court.  He  now  placed  himself  at  the  head  of 
a  band  of  outlaws  (1  Samuel  xxii.  2)}^  Recognition  of 
his  courage,  prowess  and  ability  as  a  leader  eventually  led 
to  his  election  as  king  by  the  tribal  sheikhs  assembled  at 
Hebron,  "the  capital  of  Caleb  or  possibly  of  an  alliance  of 
clans  afterward  merged  into  Judah. "^^ 

At  the  beginning  of  David's  kingship,  Israel  was  an 
aggregation  of  tribes  "only  feebly  conscious  of  their  com- 
mon blood.  Some  of  them  were  largely  made  up  of  Cana- 
anite  elements.  Their  jealousies  of  each  other  were  noto- 
rious."^® David  conquered  the  Jebusite  city  of  Jerusalem 
and  made  it  the  capital  of  his  kingdom.  His  ambition  fell 
short  of  nothing  less  than  the  union  of  all  the  tribes  of 
Israel  into  a  single  kingdom  with  himself  as  king.^*  He 
succeeded  in  laying  the  foundations  of  such  a  monarchy. 
His  position  as  king  of  Israel  appears  to  have  received  defi- 
nite recognition  by  outside  powers  as  well  as  by  the  electing 
tribes.  The  royal  court  was  much  more  thoroughly  organ- 
ized than  under  Saul.     Not  the  least  important  of  his  acts 

^^  Ibid.,  p.  116.  ^^  Ibid.,  p.  121. 

^^  For  an  excellent  brief  summary  of  the  conclusions  of  scholars 
concerning  Hebrew  history  down  to  the  establishment  of  the  mon- 
archy consult  George  Aaron  Barton,  A  Sketch  of  Semitic  Origins,  pp. 
270d-275b. 

i«  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History,  pp.  129-130. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  133.  18  Ibid.,  pp.  142-143.  !« Ibid.,  p.  137. 


10  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

was  the  establishment  at  Jerusalem  of  the  royal  sanctuary 
or  king's  chapel,  destined  to  develop  some  three  hundred 
years  later  into  the  national  temple  and  sole  lawful  place 
of  sacrifice. 

In  the  year  973  B.C.,  shortly  before  his  death,  David 
proclaimed  his  son  Solomon  king.  The  new  monarch  as- 
Reign  of  Solo-  sumed  toward  his  subjects  the  attitude,  not 
mon  973-933  B.C.  q{  an  electoral  king  of  free  tribesmen,  but  of 
an  oriental  despot.  Ignoring  the  traditional  division  into 
consanguineous  tribes,  Solomon  divided  his  territory  into 
geographical  districts,  each  ruled  over  by  a  pasha.^°  Solo- 
mon was  the  victim  of  the  building  mania  "that  possesses 
all  'grand  monarchs.' "  He  not  only  rebuilt  the  capital  but 
fortified  various  other  cities.^^  He  gloried  in  wealth,  costly 
buildings  and  luxury.  His  resplendent  palace  and  temple 
were  of  a  beauty  and  costliness  so  unprecedented  as  soon  to 
become  symbols  of  regal  grandeur.  He  entered  the  world  of 
commerce  and  built  his  own  ships  and  sent  his  own  servants 
under  Phoenician  masters  to  trade  with  Arabia.  In  order 
to  carry  out  his  worldly  ambitions  Solomon  oppressed  his 
subjects  in  a  manner  scarcely  to  be  endured  by  the  descend- 
ants of  the  free-bom  sons  of  the  desert.  He  levied  heavy 
taxes  upon  them,  compelled  them  to  serve  without  pay  in 
the  erection  of  public  works  and  forced  them  to  labor  in 
alien  states. 

To  Solomon  is  ascribed  a  reign  of  forty  years.  The 
dissatisfaction  and  unrest  created  by  his  policies  found  ex- 
Division  of  the  pi"ession  in  an  appeal  addressed  to  his  son 
Kingdom  Rehoboam,  upon  his  accession  to  the  throne. 

933  B   C 

The  appeal  was  in  vain.  Rehoboam  was  deaf 
to  all  entreaties  (1  Kings  xii).  Revolt  broke  out.  Only 
two  tribes,  Judah  and  Benjamin,  remained  loyal  to  the  reign- 
ing house.  These  two  formed  the  kingdom  of  Judah  with 
Jerusalem  as  its  capital.     The  remaining  tribes  set  up  the 

20 /Wd.,  p.  157.  21 /Wd.,  p.  158. 


THE    NATIVE   OR   PRE-EXILIC   PERIOD.  11 

kingdom  of  Israel  in  the  north  with  Shechem"  as  its  capital 
and  Jeroboam  as  its  king. 

Israel,  after  a  checkered  history  covering  about  two 
hundred  years  (933-723  B.C.),  fell  under  the  onslaught  of 
Fall  of  Israel  the  Assyrian  kings,  Shalmaneser  IV  (d.  727 
723  B.C.  B.C.)    and  Sargon    (reigned  727-705   B.C.). 

Many  of  its  inhabitants  were  scattered  throughout  the  prov- 
inces of  Assyria  and  were  absorbed  by  the  surrounding  pop- 
ulation. A  similar  fate  appears  to  have  attended  those  whom 
Sargon  allowed  to  remain  in  Palestine.  The  kingdom  of 
Israel  had  fallen  to  rise  no  more. 

The  history  of  Judah  extends  from  its  establishment 
following  the  division  of  the  kingdom  933  B.  C,  to  the 
Judah  933  B.  C-  final  dcstruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Romans, 
70  A.  D.  70  A.  D.,  and  the  subsequent   dispersion  of 

the  Jews.  This  long  history  falls  into  two  main  divisions, 
separated  by  a  period  of  enforced  sojourn  in  Babylonia 
586-538  B.  C,  commonly  known  as  the  Babylonian  Exile. 
From  the  division  of  the  kingdom  up  to  the  time  of  the  Exile 
the  little  kingdom  of  Judah,  though  much  of  the  time  paying 
tribute  to  Egypt,  Assyria  or  some  other  foreign  power, 
nevertheless  maintained  a  separate  political  existence.  In 
the  year  586  B.  C.  this  existence  came  to  an  end.  From  586 
B.  C.  to  70  A.  D.,  with  the  exception  of  the  century  of  Mac- 
cabean  leadership  (175-63  B.C.),  Judah  passed  from  one 
foreign  master  to  another — Babylonia,  Persia,  Greece,  Rome. 

DETERMINING  FACTORS  IN  HEBREW  LIFE. 

The  history  of  the  Hebrews  and  of  their  social  insti- 
tutions was  largely  determined  by  the  following  seven  im- 
portant factors :  ( 1 )  their  early  nomadism ;  (2)  their  environ- 
ment, including  the  location,  size  and  physical  characteristics 
of  Palestine;  (3)  their  contact  with  foreign  nations;  (4) 
their  own  political  weakness;  (5)  their  prolonged  subjection 

22  Samaria  was,  of  course,  the  capital  of  Israel  throughout  the 
greater  portion  of  its  history. 


12  EDUCATION   IN   ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

to  foreign  masters;  (6)  the  supreme  place  ultimately  given 

to  religion;  (7)  the  character  of  their  religious  conceptions, 

particularly  their  final  monotheistic  conception  of  God  as  a 

righteous,  loving  and  universal  father.^^ 

The  records  we  possess  tell  little  of  the  centuries  of 

Bedawin  life  that  preceded  the  migration   into  Palestine. 

But  what  the  written  accounts  failed  or  re- 
Nomadism.  .        ,  ,  .,,.,,.  , 

fused  to  relate,  was  mdelibly  impressed  upon 

the  racial  consciousness  and  imbedded  in  the  products  of 
racial  experience.  Myths,  legends  and  stories  of  the  patri- 
archs handed  down  from  early  times  betray  unmistakable 
evidences  of  nomadic  Hfe.  Likewise,  certain  social  institu- 
tions and  religious  conceptions  bear  for  centuries  uncon- 
scious witness  to  the  nomadic  character  of  the  period  of 
their  genesis. 

What  the  Hebrews  became  after  settling  in  Palestine, 

the  customs  and  ideas  they  acquired  and  their  final  fate 

were  to  no  small  degree  determined  by  the 

Environment.  .  ii-ii  rT->i 

location  and  physical  characteristics  or  rales- 
tine.  A  small  strip  of  land  covering  about  8500  square  miles, 
approximately  the  size  of  Massachusetts,^*  extremely  fertile 
in  parts  and  lying  in  the  direct  path  from  Egypt  to  Baby- 
lonia and  Assyria,  was  by  its  location,  fertility  and  natural 
resources  inevitably  destined  to  be  the  perpetual  battlefield 
of  the  great  nations  of  antiquity.  The  division  of  this  small 
country  into  distinct  districts  by  natural  barriers  tended  to 
keep  the  different  tribes  settling  it  from  forming  any  strong  or 

-2  Some  writers  question  whether  the  Hebrews  ever  developed  a 
conception  of  God  as  a  universal  father;  a  gracious  universal  sov- 
ereign, such  writers  maintain,  represents  the  climax  of  ancient  He- 
brew thought.  To  me  such  passages  as  1  Kings  viii,  41-43 ;  Jonah 
iii.  10-11  and  many  teachings  of  the  prophets  are  sufficient  basis  for 
the  position  taken  here. 

2*  Approximately:  the  area  of  Massachusetts  (8315  square  miles)  ; 
eight  times  as  large  as  Rhode  Island  (1250  square  miles),  the  smallest 
of  the  United  States;  one  sixth  the  area  of  New  York  (49,170 
square  miles)  ;  and  one  tenth  of  that  of  Minnesota  (83,365  square 
miles).  (Areas  taken  from  the  Century  Dictionary  and  Cyclopedia. 
Vol.  IX.) 


THE   NATIVE   OR   PRE-EXILIC   PERIOD.  13 

lasting  union  and  made  them  ready  prey  to  internal  misunder- 
standings and  jealousies  and  to  conquest  by  outside  foes. 

From  the  time  of  their  settlement  in  Palestine  to  their 
final  dispersion,  the  Hebrews  were  almost  continuously  in 
Contact  with  contact  with  foreign  civilizations.  The  effect 
Foreign  Nations.  Qf  this  coutact  was  mauy-sided  and  often  ad- 
vantageous. On  the  other  hand,  contact  with  pagan  nations 
carried  with  it  the  dangers  of  absorption,  of  loss  of  nation- 
alism and  of  the  adoption  of  moral  and  religious  ideas  and 
practices  of  a,  lower  level  than  their  own.  In  time,  these 
dangers  were  clearly  recognized,  and  a  studied  effort  was 
made  to  devise  a  system  able  to  withstand  them.  It  was  this 
effort  that  gave  rise  to  Judaism,  uninviting  in  comparison 
with  the  broad  teaching  of  the  prophets,  but  which,  through 
its  very  narrowness  and  exclusiveness,  saved  the  national- 
ity of  a  people  scattered  to  the  four  ends  of  the  world. 

The  four  supreme  conceptions"-^  contributed  by  the  He- 
brews to  the  religious  heritage  of  the  race  were  (1)  mono- 
T..  ^.    ^.     -o       theism,  the  belief  in  one  god  and  only  one ; 

Distinctive  Be-  '  q  j  ' 

liefs  and  Reiig-  (2)  the  uuivcrsal  fatherhood  of  God;  (3) 
ious  Conceptions,  ^j^^  Universal  brotherhood  of  man;  (4)  the 
union,  or  rather  the  identity,  of  religion  and  morality. 
Hebrew  religion  was  a  gradual  evolution.  The  long  process 
of  growth  by  which  the  above  conceptions  were  gradually 
evolved  can  be  merely  suggested  here.  The  extent  to  which 
totemism  and  ancestor-worship-^  entered  into  primitive  He- 
brew religion,  whether  Hebrew  monotheism  evolved  from 
polytheism-^  or  from  henotheism-^  are  still  largely  matters 

25  It  should  be  noted  that  the  discussion  of  religion  and  morals  in 
the  following  paragraphs  includes  the  post-Exilic  as  well  as  the 
native  period. 

28  Owen  C.  Whitehouse,  "Hebrew  Religion,"  Enc.  Brit.,  11th  ed., 
XIII,  177  c-d. 

2^  F.  B.  Jevons,  Introduction  to  the  History  of  Religion,  pp.  382ff, 
gives  an  excellent  summary  for  the  arguments  in  favor  of  the  poly- 
theistic origin  which  he  then  proceeds  to  controvert. 

28  Whitehouse  accepts  both  henotheism  and  polytheism  (for  ref- 
erence see  above,  note  26). 


14  EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

of  conjecture  and  debate.  Whitehouse  considers  it  prob- 
able that  during  nomadism  "some,  at  least,  of  the  Hebrew 
clans  had  patron  deities  of  their  own."^®  Through  the  union 
of  the  tribes  Yahweh,  formerly  a  tribal  deity,  became  the 
national  god.^^  At  the  time  of  the  Conquest,  Palestine  was 
dotted  with  shrines  of  Baalim  (singular  Baal),  Canaanite 
local  gods  of  agriculture  and  fertility.  Where  the  Hebrews 
conquered,  they  deposed  the  Baalim  and  set  up  shrines  to 
Yahweh.  Thus  local  shrines  to  Yahweh  gradually  sup- 
planted local  Baalim.^*  The  change  appears  to  have  been 
frequently  a  change  in  name  only,  for  to  Yahweh  at  these 
newly  established  shrines  were  transferred  many  of  the 
traits  and  the  sensual  and  degrading  rites^^  of  the  deposed 
Baalim.^^  Yahweh  was  not  regarded  as  the  only  god  but 
merely  as  a  greater  god  than  the  gods  of  other  nations.^' 
The  reality  of  the  gods  of  Egypt,  Phoenicia  and  Canaan, 
far  from  being  denied,  was  so  thoroughly  believed  in  that 
they  together  with  the  many  Yahwehs  were  openly  wor- 
shiped until  the  reforms  of  Josiah,  621  B.  C. 

According  to  Biblical  record,  it  was  in  the  eighteenth 

year  of  the  reign  of  King  Josiah  (621  B.C.)  that  the  high 

priest  found  in  the  royal  temple  in  Jerusalem, 

Book  of  Instruc-     ^  „  ,  .  ,        -r^        ,  r  -r  •  oi 

tion  and  Reforms  a  scroll  spokcu  of  as  the  Book  of  Instruction.'* 
of  King  Josiah    'pj^g  Book  of  Instruction  forbade  the  worship 

621   B.  C.  ^ 

of  any  god  other  than  Yahwf^l^.  declared  Jeru- 
salem the  sole  place  where  sacrifices  might  be  offered,  and 

29  Owen  C.  Whitehouse,  "Hebrew  Religion,"  Enc.  Brit.,  11th  ed., 
XIII,  177a. 

30  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  view  of  Whitehouse,  as 
well  as  all  other  views,  of  the  process  of  how  Yahweh  became  the 
national  god  of  the  Hebrews  is  distinctly  hypothetical.  An  entirely 
contrary  view  has  long  been  maintained,  namely,  that  the  political 
union  grew  out  of  the  fact  that  Yahweh  was  the  common  tribal  god. 
Such  a  view,  of  course,  reverses  the  process  as  stated  by  Whitehouse. 

31  Owen  C.  \Vhitehouse,  "Hebrew  Religion,"  Enc.  Brit.,  11th  ed., 
XIII,  179d. 

^^Ibid.,  p.  180a;  cf.  Jeremiah  ii.  19-20;  Hosea  iv.  13-14. 

33  Exodus  XV.   11. 

34  Identified  with  Deuteronomy  xii-xix,  and  xxvi-xxviii. 


THE   NATIVE  OR   PRE-EXILIC   PERIOD. 


15 


gave  specific  directions  as  to  the  manner  of  worship  ac- 
ceptable to  Yahweh.  King  Josiah  sought  to  put  the  new- 
found regulations  into  effect  at  once.  The  Book  of  In- 
struction was  read  publicly,  and  the  king,  speaking  for 
himself  and  as  representative  of  the  people,  bound  himself 
and  the  nation  to  fulfil  its  laws.  The  adoption  of  the  Book 
of  Instruction  was  an  act  of  supreme  importance.^'^  It  y^ 
marked  the  triumph  of  monotheism  and  of  the  prophetic 
conception  of  Yahweh.  By  centering  worship  at  Jerusalem 
it  made  possible  its  control. 

In  early  Hebrew  thought  Yahweh  is  represented  as  hav- 
ing human  characteristics  and  performing  human  activities. 
Primitive  Con-  I"^^g^s  are  employed  in  worshiping  him,^^  and 
ception  of  Yah-  he  makes  known  his  will  through  the  sacred 
^'^-  lot."     He  seeks  to  kill  Moses.^^     He  is  des- 

potic, merciless  toward  all  who  offend,  beasts^®  as  well  as 
men.  He  is  concerned  with  the  minute  details  of  ceremony 
and  rite.  His  wrath  is  averted  or  his  favor  won  and  kept 
by  elaborate  ceremonies,  lavish  and  costly  offerings  not 
excluding  human  sacrifices.*^  It  is  remarkable  that  nowhere 
amid  the  traces  of  this  early  stage  is  Yahweh  associated  with 
any  of  the  gross  immoralities  which  stain  the  biographies 
of  the  gods  of  Greece,  Rome  and  other  nations.*^  Out  of 
this  primitive  non-ethical  conception  of  Yahweh  gradually 
developed  the  prophetic  conception. 

Yahweh  of  the  prophets  is  a  god  of  mercy  and  kindness, 
the  protector  of  beasts'^^  as  well  as  of  men.  He  is  the  lov- 
Prophetic  Con-  ^"?'  forgiving,  never  despairing  father  of  all 
ception  of  Yah-  mankind.*^  Through  his  universal  fatherhood 
^*  ■  all  men  are  brothers  and  as  such  are  obligated 

to  fulfil  toward  one  another  the  duties  of  brotherhood.    He 

35  H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jews,  I,  292-293. 
3«  Judges  xvii  and  xviii.  37  /^f^f 

38  Exodus  iv.  24.  39  /^{^.^  xix.  12-13. 

^^  C.  G.  Montefiore,  "Origin  and  Growth  of  the  Religion  of  the 
Ancient  Hebrews,"  Hibbert  Lectures,  1892,  p.  40. 

41  Ibid.,  pp.  37-40.  *^  Jonah  iv.  11.  *3  Qi.  above,  note  23. 


16  EDUCATION   IN   ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

is  the  only  god :  all  other  gods  have  no  existence.  He  is 
the  god  of  all  nations,  of  Assyria  as  well  as  of  Israel:  to 
Him  shall  all  nations  ultimately  come.  He  is  the  moral  ruler 
of  the  universe.  He  is  a  god  perfect  and  absolute  in  his 
own  righteousness  (Amos).  His  favor  depends  upon  right- 
eousness. He  demands  of  his  worshipers  not  rites  and 
material  gifts,  but  righteousness,  lives  pure  and  holy,  con- 
secrated to  Yahweh  and  acceptable  to  him  because  reflecting 
his  moral  characteristics. 

The  forces  which  gave  rise  to  this  later  conception  were 
many.  It  arose  partly  as  the  reaction  against  the  sensual 
worship  of  surrounding  nations,  partly  through  borrowing 
the  better  elements  of  religions  with  which  the  Hebrews 
came  in  contact,  largely  as  the  result  of  the  deepening  of 
their  own  spiritual  life.  National  weakness  and  prolonged 
subjection  to  foreign  masters  played  an  important  part. 
Between  the  relentless  Yahweh  of  early  times,  whose  anger 
is  appeased  by  the  hanging  of  Saul's  ^seven  sons,**  and  the 
Yahweh  pictured  by  the  Second  Isaiah*^  are  centuries  of 
subjection,  persecution  and  suffering,  and  the  ripening  of 
the  religious  genius  of  the  prophets. 

4*  2  Samuel  xxi.  1-11. 

*^  Isaiah  xl-lxvi  is  commonly  called  the  Second  Isaiah.    See  espe- 
cially Isaiah  xli.  1-4;  xliii.  4;  xlv.  21. 


CHAPTER  11. 

EDUCATION  DURING  THE  NATIVE  OR 
PRE-EXILIC  PERIOD. 


EDUCATION  DURING  THE  NATIVE  OR 
PRE-EXILIC  PERIOD. 

"And  Esau  was  a  skillful  hunter,  a  man  of 
the  field ;  and  Jacob  was  a  quiet  man,  dwelling 
in  tents." — Genesis  xxv.  27. 

"Young  men  and  maidens  vied  with  one 
another  in  learning  beautiful  songs Shep- 
herds and  hunters  at  their  evening  rests 

sang  songs  to  the  accompaniment  of  the  flute." 
— Herzog,  Encyclopddie,  2d  ed.,  V.  Extracts, 
pp.  672  flF. 

Summary  of  Chapter. 

For  the  mass  of  people  the  Native  Period  was  a  period  without 
schools.  The  tribe  and  the  family  were  the  chief  educational  institu- 
tions. Parents  and  relatives  were  the  child's  almost  sole  teachers  in 
private  life. 

During  this  period  arose  two  orders,  the  priests  and  the  prophets, 
which  fulfilled  most  important  functions  as  public  teachers  and  under 
whose  guidance  arose  a  rich  heritage  of  national  literature,  both  oral 
and  written. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  period  a  national  "Book  of  Instruction"; 
was  adopted.  This  was  the  most  conspicuous  step  in  the  beginning 
of  the  movement  which  was  to  make  of  the  Hebrewsin  the  post- 
Exilic  Period  a  people  of  jooks  and  schools. 

GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS,  SOCIAL  AND  RELIGIOUS. 
It  is  impossible  to  estimate  even  approximately  the  dura- 
tion of  the  Native  or  pre-Exilic  Period.  From  the  Conquest 
to  the  Exile  is  something  over  five  centuries,  but  back  of 
the  Conquest  stretch  unknown  unrecorded  centuries  of 
nomadism.  The  Native  Period  is  marked  by  all  those 
changes,  industrial,  political,  social,  moral,  religious,  intel- 
lectual and  educational,  involved  in  passing  from  the  life 


20  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

of  wandering  tribes  to  that  of  a  people  living  in  walled 
cities,  ruled  over  by  a  king,  and  pursuing  as  occupations, 
agriculture,  trades  and  commerce.  It  was  a  period  of  re- 
markable religious,  moral  and  intellectual  progress.^  It  be- 
gins with  a  bookless  people  who  erect  heaps  of  stones  to 
record  events.  It  closes  with  the  public  adoption  of  a 
written  code,^  destined  henceforth  to  be  a  national  text- 
book. The  foundations  of  Judaism  had  been  laid.  Already 
the  forces  which  were  to  make  the  Jews  a  "people  of  the 
book"  were  at  work. 

Throughout  the  Native  Period  the  popular  ideal  of  man- 
hood was  twofold,  the  man  of  craft  and  shrewdness  and 
The  Twofold  ^^^  "^^^  ^^  Strength  and  courage.  The  man 
Ideal  of  Man-  of  shrcwduess  is  represented  by  the  thrifty 
^°°^'  herdsman  and  farmer,  the  shrewd  rperchant, 

the  discerning  and  just  judge,  the  crafty  warrior.  The  man 
of  strength  and  courage  is  represented  by  the  stalwart  and 
daring  hunter  and  soldier.  Although  patriarchal  life  as 
pictured  in  the  Scriptures  is  undoubtedly  much  idealized, 
the  character  of  Jacob  may  be  accepted  as  a  clear  and 
forceful  embodiment  of  one  aspect  of  this  popular  ideal:  a 
man  of  shrewdness  and  cunning,  if  need  be  tricky  and  dis- 
honest, prizing  highly  his  religious  inheritance,  winning  by 
craft  against  all  odds.  Representatives  of  the  physical  ideal 
are  to  be  met  with  on  every  hand  in  early  narrative  and 
legend:  Jephthah  and  other  tribal  heroes  or  "judges";  Saul, 
who  stood  higher  from  the  shoulders  and  upward  than  any 
one  else ;  David,  who  slew  his  ten  thousand. 

EDUCATIONAL  CHARACTERISTICS. 

The  educational  characteristics  of  the  Native  Period 
appear  in  sections  to  follow  which  consider  the  subject-matter 
and  institutions  of  education.     The  present  section  will  be 

1  See  Chapter  I,  paragraphs  on  the  Primitive  and  the  Prophetic 
Conceptions  of  Yahweh. 

2  The  so-called  "Book  of  Instruction,"  identified  with  Deuteron- 
omy xii-xix  and  xxvi-xxviii,  see  above,  pp.  14-15. 


EDUCATION   DURING  THE   NATIVE   PERIOD.  21 

limited,  therefore,  to  a  brief  statement  of  a  few  general 
characteristics. 

The  Native  Period_^M„a  period  without  schools.  At 
first  the  tribe,  then  the  family,  were  the  chief  social  organi- 
,     .     .  zations  throug^h  which  education  was  received. 

Institutions,  °  .  /tt  t.     i.    ?        •     \ 

Subjects,  The  rise  of  orders  of  priests  (Heb.  kohamm) 

Method.  ^^^  ^^  communities  of  prophets  (Heb.  nebiim) 

undoubtedley^ed  to  some  sort  of  provision  for  giving 
special  training  to  the  members  of  these  orders,  but  for 
the  masses  of  the  people  there  were  no  schools.  Education 
was  chiefly  a  training  according  to  sex  in  the  practical  duties 
of  every-day  life.  This  training  was  given,  as  among  primi- 
tive people,  chiefly  through  actual  participation,  instruction 
playing  only  a  minor  part.  In  certain  respects  education 
was  broader  than  in  later  times  owing  to  the  fact  that  phys- 
ical sports,  dancing^  and  music  were  more  universally  culti- 
vated. The  camp,  public  assemblies,  temples,  religious  and 
secular  festivals  supplemented  the  training  given  through 
tribal  and  family  customs  and  occupations.       .  •  - 

For  convenience  in  treatment,  education  will  be  con- 
sidered under  two  main  heads :  ( 1 )  Education  in  the  Tribe 
and  Family;  (2)  Education  Outside  the  Family.  The  con- 
sideration of  the  family  as  an  educational  institution  will 
be  reserved,  for  the  most  part,  for  the  post-Exilic  Period, 
owing  to  the  meagerness  and  uncertainty  of  our  knowledge 
concerning  conditions  during  the  Native  Period.  With  re- 
spect to  tribal  and  family  education,  the  present  chapter 
will  attempt  to  answer  simply  the  questions,  who  was 
taught,  who  did  the  teaching  and  what  was  taught. 

BOYS'  EDUCATION  IN  TRIBE  AND  FAMILY.* 

In  the  earlier  part  of  the  Native  Period  all  members 
of  the  tribe  of  the  same  sex  received  practically  the  same 

3  Dancing,  originally  a  religious  and  patriotic  exercise,  came  in 
later  times  to  be  limited  to  the  field  of  secular  festive  activities.  See 
below,  paragraphs  on  Music — Dancing. 

*  For  a  discussion  of  girls'  education  see  Chapter  VI. 


22  EDUCATION   IN   ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

training.  It  may  be  that  the  eldest  son  as  the  prospective 
successor  to  the  position  of  tribe  chief  received  some  special 
Who  Was  training  in  religious  rites,  tribal  ceremonies, 

Taught.  institutions  and  laws.    This  view  is  supported 

by  Graetz  who  writes:  "Collaterally  (with  the  priesthood) 
there  existed  a  custom,  dating  from  remote  patriarchal  ages, 
which  demanded  that  the  first-bom  of  every  family  should 
attend  to  the  performance  of  sacrificial  rites.  This  pre- 
rogative could  not  be  abruptly  abolished,  and  continued  for 
some  time  alongside  of  the  Levitical  priesthood."^ 

The  rise  of  the  priesthood  and  the  prophets  as  distinct 
classes  brought  into  existence  two  orders  demanding  special 
training. 

In  tribal  days  .the  education  of  the  child  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  parents  and  adult  members  of  the  tribe.  Upon 
settlement  in  Canaan  the  family  became  the 
fundamental  social  unit  and  the  training  and 
instruction  of  the  children  became  almost  entirely  a  matter 
of  parental  responsibility.  In  some  cases,  however,  the 
parents  delegated  the  rearing  of  their  children  to  others. 
The  Scriptures  contain  references  to  "nursing  fathers,"^ 
and  "nursing  mothers,"^  male  and  female  nurses.  Ruth's 
child  was  nursed  by  Naomi.®  Jonathan's  four-year  old  son 
was  in  charge  of  a  nurse,^  and  Ahab's  seventy  sons  were 
reared  by  the  great  men  of  Samaria.^^ 

Undoubtedly  the  Hebrews  from  earliest  times  in  com- 
mon with  other  primitive  peoples,  consciously  or  uncon- 
Periods  in  Edu- sciously,  recognized  distinct  periods  in  child 
cation.  ijfg  ^nd  modified  training  and  instruction  ac- 

cordingly. Definite  recognition  of  such  periods  is  found 
in  the  post-Exilic  Period,  and  will  be  described  in  the  next 
chapter.  In  the  present  chapter  no  attempt  will  be  made  to 
present  the  activities,  occupations  and  training  of  the  child 

8  H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jews,  I,  25.  «  Numbers  xi.  12. 
T  Isaiah  xlix.  23.                                                     «  Ruth  iv.  16. 

9  2  Samuel  iv.  4.  lo  2  Kings  x.  1-7. 


EDUCATION   DURING  THE   NATIVE   PERIOD.  23 

upon  the  basis  of  stages;  owing  to  lack  of  data,  a  general 
treatment  must  suffice. 

What  Was  Taught. 

In  early  childhood,  play,  in  later  childhood  and  youth, 
work,  industrial  occupations  and  training  in  the  use  of 
Industrial  and  wcapous  were  the  activities  through  which 
Physical  Train-  physical  development  and  training  were  se- 
*"^*  cured.     During  the  period  of  nomadism  and 

for  a  considerable  time  after  settlement  in  Canaan  every 
tribesman  looked  f orw^ard  to  the  life  of  a  herdsman,  warrior 
and  hunter.  To  these  occupations  were  added  upon  settle- 
ment in  Canaan  agriculture,  building,  and  other  trades  and 
crafts. 

Following  the  establishment  of  the  monarchy  and  the 
rise  of  cities,  trades  and  crafts  of  a  considerable  variety 
developed.  The  most  important  crafts  and  industrial  occu- 
pations came  now  to  be:  (1)  agriculture,  (2)  cattle- raising 
and  grazing,  (3)  fishing,  (4)  mining,  (5)  building,  (6)  car- 
pentry and  wood- working,  (7)  metal- work,  (8)  spinning, 
(9)  weaving,  (10)  dyeing,  (11)  tanning,  (12)  tent-making, 
(13)  pottery-making,  (14)  making  of  tools  to  be  used  in 
trades  and  crafts. 

Implements  and  processes  were  simple ;  nevertheless,  all 
occupations  put  a  value  upon  strength  and  physical  dex- 
terity. In  the  camp,  on  the  march,  in  pasture  land,  in  shop 
or  in  market  place,  the  boy  under  the  direction  of  his  father 
or  elder  kinsmen  learned  to  perform  the  tasks  of  his  gene- 
ration." 

Just  as  the  social  conditions  made  it  necessary  for  every 

boy  to  be  given  industrial  training,  so  the  troublous  political 

Military  Train-    conditious  made  it  necessary  that  every  adult 

^"2.  male  be  ready  at  a  moment's  notice  to  answer 

the  call  to  arms.     Consequently  every  boy  would  learn  the 

use~or^eapons.     Preparation  for  war  consisted  chiefly  in 

11  Compare  these  statements  with  Chapter  IV,  paragraphs  on  In- 
dustrial Education. 


24  EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT   ISRAEL. 

training  in  the  use  of  the  sling,  the  bow  and  arrow,  the 
sword,  shield,  spear.  Later  in  some  cases,  riding  and  chariot- 
driving  would  be  taught.  Many  passages  in  the  Scriptures 
chronicle  a  display  of  skill  which  could  not  have  been 
gained  except  through  long  and  persistent  practice  and  train- 
ing. David's  skill  in  the  use  of  the  sling^^  jg  known  to  every 
one.  An  illuminating  passage  in  Judges  reads :  "Among  all 
this  people  there  were  seven  hundred  chosen  men  left- 
handed  ;  every  one  could  sling  stones  at  an  hair-breadth  and 
not  miss."^* 

That  athletics  and  physical  sports  such  as  ball  games, 
jumping,  running  races  and  contests  in  archery  had  a  place 
Athletics  and  i"  the  life  of  this  period  is  indicated  by  a 
Games.  number  of  passages:  "He  will  toss  thee  like 

a  ball  ;"^*  "I  will  shoot  as  though  I  shot  at  a  mark ;""  "He 
hath  set  me  a  mark  for  the  arrow  ;"^®  "And  rejoiceth  as  a 
strong  man  to  run  his  course. "^^ 

"Young  men  and  maidens  vied  with  one  another  in 
learning  beautiful  songs,  and  cheered  with  them  the  festival 
Music.  gatherings  of  the  villages,  and  the  still  higher 

Dancing.  assemblies   at  the  sanctuaries   of  the  tribes. 

THe  maidens  at  Shilo  went  yearly  with  songs  and  dances  into 
the  vineyards  ;^®  and  those  of  Gilead  repeated  the  sad  story 
of  Jephthah's  daughter.^^  The  boys  learned  David's  lament 
over  Jonathan,^^  shepherds  and  hunters  at  their  evening  rests 
by  the  springs  of  the  wilderness  sang  songs  to  the  accom- 
paniment of  the  flute."^^ 

From  the  fact  that  David  "danced  before  Yahweh"^^ 
and  from  other  instances,  it  is  evident  that  dancing  was 

12  1  Samuel  xvii.  50.      ^^  Judges  xx.  16.  i*  Isaiah  xxii.  18. 

I'*  1  Samuel  xx.  20.        i«  Lamentations  iii.  12.       i^  Psalms  xix.  5. 
18  Judges  xxi.  21.  ^^  Ibid.,  xi.  40.  203  Sam.  i.  19-27. 

21  Judges  V.  11.  Cf.  Herzo^,  Encyclopddie,  2d  ed.,  V,  pp.  672  et 
sea.  (Quotation  and  reference  from  C.  A.  Briggs,  Introduction  to 
the  Study  of  Holy  Scripture,  p.  356.) 

22  2  Samuel  vi.  14. 


EDUCATION  DURING  THE  NATIVE  PERIOD.  25 

originally  a  religious  as  well  as  a  patriotic  and  festive  exer- 
cise.-^ It  was  probably  combined  with  song  and  dramatic 
gesture.  Often  the  Hebrew  youth  accompanied  his  song 
with  the  kinnor^*  or  played  the  flute  while  others  sang.  In 
certain  families  and  in  preparation  for  certain  public  festi- 
vals there  may  have  been  some  provision  for  systematic 
instruction  in  dancing,  singing,  playing  the  kinnor  or  the 
flute.  But  probably  music  and  dancing  were  learned  with- 
out any  formal  instruction,  i.  e.,  children  picked  them  up 
by  watching,  imitating,  and  now  and  then  joining  in  the 
performance.  It  was  for  the  most  part  in  the  same  in- 
formal manner  that  the  children  of  each  generation  learned 
from  their  elders  ballads,  lyrics,  funeral  dirges,  patriotic 
songs,  chants  and  prayers. 

The  history  of  literature  during  the  Native  Period  falls 
into  two  minor  periods :  -(i)__tbe  age  of  oral  transmission 
Oral  Literature-  ^^  ^hc  age  of  song  and  story ;  (2)  the  age  of 
Traveling  Bards  written  literature.  Such  passages  as  Genesis 
xxxi.  44-52  and  Joshua  iv  seem  to  indicate 
that  prior  to  a  widespread  knowledge  of  reading  and  writ- 
ing it  was  customary  to  erect  heaps  of  stones  to  indicate 
the  site  of  important  events,  and  then  to  transmit  orally 
from  generation  to  generation  the  narrative  connected  there- 
with. Laws,  traditions,  myths,  songs,  riddles,  fables,  pro- 
verbs and  prayers  were  handed  down  orally  for  many  cen- 
turies before  they  were  committed  to  writing. 

"Many  of  Israel's  traditions  undoubtedly  continued  for 
centuries  to  be  recorded  simply  in  the  minds  of  the  people. 
As  among  the  nomadic  Arabs  to-day  they  were  recounted 
during  the  long  evenings  beside  the  campfires,  or  as  the 
shepherds  watched  their  slow  moving  flocks,  or  in  the  secret 
of  the  harem,  or  at  the  wells  as  the  maidens  went  out  to 
draw  water,  or  at  marriage  feasts  and  religious  festivals. 

23  Later  times  came  to  look  with  disapproval  upon  dancing  as  a 
form  of  worship  and  relegated  its  use  more  and  more  to  secular 
festive  occasions. 

2*  An  eight-stringed  lyre. 


26  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

Possibly,  as  throughout  all  the  towns  of  modern  Palestine, 
there  were  found  professional  story-tellers  who,  whenever 
men  gathered  together  for  recreation,  recited  with  gesture 
and  action  their  bundle  of  tales.  The  stories  appealed 
strongly  to  the  imagination  of  the  people,  for  they  told  of 
courtship,  of  marriage,  of  intrigue,  and  of  the  achievements 
of -their  ancestors,  or  else  answered  the  questions  which 
were  uppermost  in  their  minds  [i.  e.,  questions  regarding 
the  origin  of  man  and  the  world  in  which  he  lives,  differ- 
ences in  races  and  languages].  Other  traditions,  embodying 
the  experiences  of  the  tribe,  were  transmitted  as  sacred 
from  father  to  son.  Another  large  group  was  treasured  at 
the  many  local  sanctuaries  scattered  throughout  the  land. 
Each  time  that  the  worshipers  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the 
shrine,  its  especial  cycle  of  traditions  relating  to  its  history 
and  ceremonies  would  be  recounted  or  recalled  and  thus 
kept  fresh  in  the  popular  memory."^'*  "In  the  picturesque, 
concrete  form  of  popular  traditions  were  transmitted  the 
thoughts,  the  beliefs,  the  fancies  and  the  experiences  of 
preceding  generations.  The  variety  of  the  motives  and  in- 
fluences which  gave  rise  to  these  is  astonishing.  Some  were 
at  first  intended  simply  to  entertain,  others  to  enlighten,  to 
kindle  patriotism,  to  instruct  in  ritual,  and  to  inspire  true 
faith  and  action.  They  touch  almost  every  side  of  human 
experience,  and  meet  in  a  remarkable  manner  man's  varied 
needs."-« 

Gradually  through  the  offices  of  priest,  prophet  and  scribe 

a  body  of  written  literature  began  to  appear.    Each  period 

produced  its  own  erroup  of  written  works  or 

Written     Litera-  ^        „  _  -      ,  .        *^  ^      "    .  . 

ture— Character  scrolls.  Out  of  this  mass  of  writmgs  there 
the  cln!>"n'°"  °^  gradually  emerged  a  group  accepted  as  canon- 
ical, i.e.,  as  bearing  the  stamp  of  divine  author- 
ity. Every  work  so  produced  gave  one  more  text  to  be 
studied  by  the  rising  generation.    As  finally  established  the 

25  C  F.  Kent,  Beginnings  of  Hebrew  History,  p.  13. 
2«  Ibid.  p.  12. 


EDUCATION   DURING  THE   NATIVE   PERIOD.  27 

canQn  included  three  chief  divisions,  (1)  the-I^w;  {2)^a^ 
the  Pcopbets;  (3)  the  ^i^Mings.  It  is  agreed  among  schol- 
ars that  the  first  division  of  the  canon,  the  Lav^,"  was 
constituted  and  officially  adopted  through  the  influence  of 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah^^  in  the  fifth  century  B.  C.  The  sec- 
ond division,  the  Prophets,^®  was  probably  not  completed 
before  the  third  century  B.  C.'*'  The  third  division,  the 
Writings,"  was  closed  in  the  year  118  A.  D.  when  the 
Council  of  Rabbis  meeting  at  Jamnia  decided  in  favor  of  the 
canonicity  of  Ecclesiastes  and  the  Song  of  Songs  which 
up  to  that  time  had  been  in  dispute.^^  From  the  above  data 
it  is  evident,  ( 1 )  that  the  canon  was  not  finally  determined 
until  the  second  century  A.  D. ;  (2)  that  there  was  in  exist- 
ence among  the  Hebrews,  at  least  three  hundred  years  be- 
fore the  Exile,  a  considerable  body  of  written  literature. 

When  did  the  three  R's  come  to  be  of  such  general  use 
as  to  be  considered  essentials  in  education?  It  is  generally 
Reading  and  agreed  that  the  Hebrews  adopted,  during  their 
Writing.  conquest  and  settlement  of  Palestine,  the  Cana- 

anite  systems  of  writing  and  of  weights  and  measures.^' 
However,  this  does  not  prove  that  a  knowledge  of  reading, 
writing  and  reckoning  became  general  at  this  time,  nor  does 
it  preclude  the  existence  and  use  of  earlier  systems.^*   "The 

^"^  The  Law  includes  Genesis,  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers,  Deu- 
teronomy. 

28  C.  A.  Briggs,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Holy  Scripture,  p.  120. 

29  Included  in  the  Prophets  are:  (1)  earher  prophets:  Joshua, 
Judges,  1  and  2  Samuel,  1  and  2  Kings;  (2)  the  later  prophets: 
Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel  and  the  twelve  "minor"  prophets. 

3^  C  A.  Briggs,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Holy  Scripture,  p.  123. 

31  Included  in  the  Writings  are:  (1)  Psalms,  Proverbs,  Job;  (2) 
The  Five  Rolls:  Song  of  Solomon,  Ruth,  Lamentations,  Ecclesiastes, 
Esther;  (3)  Daniel,  Ezra,  Nehemiah,  Chronicles. 

32  C.  A.  Briggs,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Holy  Scripture,  p.  130 

33Ismar  J.  Peritz,  Old  Testament  History,  p.  118. 

34  "The  cuneiform  script  was  perhaps  still  in  use  in  Palestine  in  the 
tenth  and  eleventh  centuries  B.  C,  meanwhile  the  north-Semitic  al- 
phabet appears  (about  850  B.C.)."  S.  A.  Cook,  "Palestine,"  Enc. 
Brit.,  11th  ed.,  XX.  608-609a. 


28  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

Mesa  stone  of  Dibon  erected  by  a  contemporary  of  .... 
Elijah,  exhibits  so  clearly  and  perfectly  the  characteristics 
of  cursive  script  as  to  demonstrate  the  existence  in  Israel 
of  a  long  practised  art  of  writing."^'^ 

Probably  the  classes  first  to  make  an  extensive  use  of 
writing  were  the  priests,  the  prophets,  scribes  and  court 
UsebyReiie-  officials.  The  pricsts  as  the  oldest  of  these 
ious  and  Official  f  our  classes  Were  undoubtedly  the  first  to  use 
Classes.  j^  ^^^  ^^^  have  employed  it  in  certain  tribes 

prior  to  the  Conquest.  The  establishment  of  the  monarchy 
resulted  in  the  rise  of  the  last  three  classes  named  above, 
each  of  which  found  a  knowledge  of  the  three  R's  a  most 
valuable  asset.  The  later  prophets  wrote  extensively.^®  The 
establishment  of  the  monarchy  brought  with  it  the  demand 
for  written  records  of  court  transactions.  Alliances,  treaties, 
royal  proclamations,  messages  of  the  king  to  chieftains  ab- 
sent on  the  field  of  battle,  chronicles  of  the  king's  exploits, 
all  afforded  abundant  opportunity  for  the  royal  secretary 
or  scribe.  "From  the  days  of  David  recorders  and  scribes 
figure  among  the  court  officials."^^  That  some  members 
of  the  nobility  were  able  to  read  and  write  is  suggested  by 
the  statement  that  David  wrote  to  his  captain  Joab,  and  that 
Jezebel  wrote  letters  in  Ahab's  name.^® 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  how  widespread  was  the 
knowledge  of  the  three  R's  during  the  Native  Period.  The 
Popular  Use  Scriptures  contain  many  passages  which  sug- 
and  Knowledge,  gggt,  though  they  do  not  prove  conclusively, 
a  widespread  knowledge  of  reading  and  writing.^®  It  is 
related  that  a  young  man  of  Succoth  captured  by  Gideon 
described  or  wrote  down  a  list  of  elders  and  princes  of 

35  Carl  H.  Cornill,  Culture  of  Ancient  Israel,  p.  90. 

3*  See  below,  paragraphs  on  Literary  Work  (of  prophets)    and 
note  62. 

3^  C.  F.  Kent,  Israel's  Historical  and  Biographical  Narratives,  p.  S. 

38  2  Samuel  xi.  14;  1  Kings  xxi.  8. 

39  See  Deuteronomy  vi.  9 ;  xxvii.  8 ;  Joshua  xviii.  9. 


EDUCATION  DURING  THE  NATIVE  PERIOD.  29 

Succolh.*^  The  instances  of  David  and  Jezebel  just  re- 
ferred to  are  frequently  cited  as  arguments  of  a  consider- 
able popular  knowledge  of  reading  and  writing  among  the 
masses  upon  the  basis  that  both  David  and  Jezebel  took  it 
for  granted  that  those  to  whom  they  were  writing  could 
read.  The  evidence  of  such  passages  is  not  conclusive. 
David  and  Jezebel  both  may  have  employed  scribes ;  more- 
over Jezebel  was  a  foreigner. 

In  1880  was  discovered  chiseled  into  the  rocky  wall  of 
one  of  the  aqueducts  leading  into  the  Siloam  reservoir  in 
Jerusalem  an  inscription  as  old  at  least  as  the  time  of  Isaiah, 
perhaps  as  old  as  the  reign  of  Solomon.*^  However  it  is  not 
safe  to  conclude  from  this  inscription,  as  has  sometimes 
been  done,  that  the  three  R's  were  in  common  use  among 
the  laboring  classes.  The  inscription  is  in  a  cursive  hand 
which  suggests  that  it  may  have  been  traced  by  a  scribe 
and  then  cut  by  a  workman.  Moreover,  even  if  the  hand 
that  traced  and  the  hand  that  cut  were  the  same,  the  work 
may  have  been  that  of  a  highly  educated  prisoner  of  war, 
taken  captive  and  enslaved.  Nevertheless  such  an  inscrip- 
tion scarcely  would  have  been  made  unless  there  had  existed 
at  the  time  a  considerable  reading  public. 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  said  that  it  seems  safe  to  as- 
sume that  putting  into  writing  laws  designed  to  be  known 
by  all  the  people'*^  would  be  the  beginning  of  a  widespread 
demand  for  instruction  in  reading  and  writing.  As  soon  as 
commerce  became  an  important  element  in  general  life*^  a 
demand  would  arise  for  a  knowledge  of  the  elements  of 
reckoning,  moneys,  weights  and  measures.  As  there  were 
no^chools  whatever  for  the  masses,  any  instruction  chil- 
^^^  Judges  viii.  14. 

o  r^^l^c  S"  ?^y^^'  ^^Sht  from  Ancient  Monuments,  p.  5 ;  p.  82  gives 
fngpp  82-86"^^"^^'°"'    ^^^^^  ^^^^^^^  ^"  ^^^^'^  ^^^  ^^°^^  °^  ^^^  ^"^" 

*2  Deuteronomy  xxvii.  2-3 ;  Joshua  xxiv.  25-27. 

*^  This  occurred  as  early  at  least  as  the  days  of  the  monarchy. 


30  EDUCATION   IN   ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

dren  received  in  the  three_R's  must  have  been  given  in  the 
home  by  the  parents  or  by  private  teachers. 

''The  impossibility  of  treating  reHgious  and  moral  edu- 
cation*"*  apart  from  training  and  instruction  in  other  fields 
of  activity  is  already  evident  from  the  pre- 
*  *^'°"'  ceding  paragraphs.*^     It  has  been  pointed  out 

/  that  dancing  was  originally  a  religious  as  well  as  a  festive 
exercise.  Much  of  that  large  body  of  literature  which  for 
centuries  existed  only  in  oral  form  was  religious  and  morale 
in  character.  Although  religion  did  not^  dominate  life  in 
this  early  period  to  the  extent  that  it  did  in  the  centuries 
followmg  the  Exile  yet  there  was  no  phase  of  life  and  no 
field  of  activity  into  which  it  did  not  enter.  Meetings  of 
family  or  tribe,  the  shearing  of  the  sheep,  the  gathering 
of  the  harvest,  the  birth  of  a  child,  departure  for  war, 
victory  or  defeat,  changes  in  the  seasons  and  in  the  moon 
were  all  occasions  for  religious  observance.  Through  be- 
holding such  observances,  through  assisting  in  preparing 
for  them,  and  through  listening  to  such  explanations  as 
parents  and  elders  saw  fit  to  give,  the  child  received  his  re- 
ligious training  and  instruction. 

The  Hebrews  were  no  exception  to*  the  general  rule 
that  the  moral  qualities  emphasized  by  any  people  depend 
largely  upon  industrial,  social  and  political 
conditions.  Surrounded  by  powerful  enemies 
and  forced  to  live  in  a  state  of  continuous  military  prepared- 
ness, the  virtues  they  most  esteemed  were  courage,  loyalty 
to  kindred  and  to  the  nation's  god,  absolute  unquestioning 
obedience  to  those  in  authority  and  to  the  laws  of  the  fam- 
ily, of  the  tribe  and  of  the  nation ;  kindness  toward  kinsmen, 
hospitality  toward  the  defenseless  wayfarer,  mercilessness 

**  The  meagerness  and  uncertainty  of  our  information  regarding 
many  family  religious  rites  and  customs  necessitates  postponing  to 
the  Period  of  Reaction  to  Foreign  Influences  any  attempt  to  describe 
in  detail  family  education  in  religion  and  morals. 

*'5  See  especially  Chapter  I,  concluding  paragraphs,  and  Chapter 
II,  What  Was  Taught. 


EDUCATION   DURING  THE   NATIVE   PERIOD.  31 

toward  foes.  Although  the  antiquity  of  many  Hebrew  pro- 
verbs suggests  that  from  very  early  times  precepts  were 
used  to  inculcate  virtues,  most  moral  education  was  a  matter 
of  training  rather  than  of  instruction :  boys  and  girls  learned 
to  be  industrious  by  working  within  the  dwelling  or  in  the 
field  ;  to  be  courageous  and  loyal  by  facing  concrete  situations 
demanding  courage  and  loyalty ;  to  be  obedient  by  obeying. 
Such  training  was  enforced  further  by  tales,  legends  and 
traditions  setting  forth  the  deeds  and  virtues  of  ancestors 
and  of  tribal  and  national  heroes. 

BOYS'  EDUCATION  OUTSIDE  OF  THE  FAMILY. 
Institutions. 

Very  early  in  life  the  child  began  to  be  made  conscious 
of,  and  later  on  began  to  come  into  contact  with,  many 
communal,  tribal  or  national  institutions,  customs,  festivals 
and  activities  which  stimulated  and  guided  his  thought  and 
conduct.*^  Among  the  most  important  of  these  were  public 
festivals,'*^  war,  hunting,  expeditions,  courts  or  places  of 
judgment  and  temples. 

Throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  JNativf  Period  the 
domain  of  the  Israelites  was  dotted  with  a  multitude  of 
shrines  and  temples  presided  over  by  bodies 
of  priests.  Every  such  temple  fulfilled  a  vari- 
ety of  functions.  In  addition  to  being  a  place  of  worship, 
it  was  a  place  of  instruction  in  religious  rites  and  law.*® 
Every  symbol  and  rite  was  a  stimulus  to  religious  feeling 
and  a  potent  teacher  of  some  belief,  law,  tradition  or  con- 
ception. The  erection  of-SojonTon's  temple  (dedicated  963 
B.  C.)  was  an  event  of  great  educationafas  well  as  of  great 
religious  importance.     Its  services  and  its  priesthood  must 

*«  See  above,  paragraph  on  Religion. 

*'  Reserved  for  discussion  in  The  Period  of  Reaction  to  Foreign 
Influence,  see  above,  note  44;  cf.  below,  Chapter  V,  "Festivals." 
*«  See  below,  paragraph  on  Functions— Teaching. 


J' 


32  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

have  exerted  a  widespread  educative  influence.  From  the 
story  of  Baruch**  we  learn  that  in  the  time  of  Jeremiah 
the  temple  court  was  used  as  a  place  of  public  instruction. 
This  custom,  undoubtedly  far  older  than  the  time  of  Jere- 
miah, was  still  followed  in  the  time  of  Jesus. 

Teaching  Orders, 
y  The  rise  in  post-Exilic  times  of  the  order^of^cribes  may 
be  regarded  as  the  beginning  of  a  distinct  teaching  profes- 
sion among  the  Hebrews.  Nevertheless  the  Native  Period 
was  by  no  means  destitute  of  orders  certain  aspects  of 
whose  work  may  well  be  described  as  educational.  It  would 
be  misleading  as  well  as  confusing  to  designate  either  the 
priests  or  the  prophets  as  teachers.  The  former  were  essen- 
tially ministers  at  and  guardians  of  the  shrines  of  Yahweh, 
and  the  latter  were  essentially  preachers.  Aside  from  the 
training  and  instruction  they  gave  to  novices  or  to  members 
of  their  own  orders  they  probably  seldom  if  ever  acted  as 
teachers  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of  the  term.  Certainly 
they  organized  neither  schools  nor  classes  for  the  masses. 
Yet  in  fulfilling  the  very  work  to  which  theyhad  been  con- 
secrated, they  were  in  a  very  real  sense  stimulating  and 
guiding  the  religious  and  moral  consciousness,  furnishing  it 
with  content  and  with  forms  of  expression  and,  in  a  word, 
Levites  and  wcre  educating  it.  It  is  therefore  impossible 
Priests.  ^q  excludc  from  even  a  brief  account  of  an- 

cient Hebrew  education  some  consideration  of  the  teach- 
ing or  educational  services  of  these  two  orders. 

The  origin  of  the  Hebrew  priesthood  is  wrapt  in  ob- 
scurity.   During  the  nomadic  period  and  for  some  time  after 
the  settlement  in  Canaan  the  head  of  every 

a.  Ongm.  r        m  ^  -  •  a      x     <  •• 

family  acted  as  its  priest.^"    Judges  xvu  seems 

to  indicate  clearly  that  as  early  as  the  time  of  the  "judges" 

the  L^idies  were  recognized  as  an  order  or  tribe  of  priests 

whose  ministrations  were  peculiarly  efficacious  in  gaining 

**  Jeremiah  xxxvi.  4.      ^o  Cf .  above,  paragr.  on  Who  Was  Taught. 


EDUCATION  DURING  THE  NATIVE  PERIOD.  33 

the  favor  of  Yahweh,^^  but  how  long  before  Micah's  time 
a  distinct  priestly  order  existed  cannot  be  stated.  Early 
times  knew  no  distinction  between  priests  and  Levites  but 
called  the  ministers  of  all  Yahweh  sanctuaries  Levites.*^* 
It  is  probable  that  the  reforms  of  Josiah  (621  B.C.)  were 
responsible  to  a  large  extent  for  the  distinction  which 
arose  in  later  times.  These  reforms  specifically  provided 
that  the  Levites  in  charge  of  the  many  shrines  outside 
Jerusalem  should  be  brought  to  the  capital  city  and  attached 
to  the  national  temple.  It  is  easy  to  understand  how  the 
order  of  priests  already  in  charge  of  the  royal  sanctuary 
would  assign  to  the  newcomers  the  more  humble  temple 
duties  and  a  humbler  rank  in  the  now  national  order  of 
priests,  claiming  for  themselves  a  superior  rank  and  the 
more  important  offices. 

Among  the  most  important  functions  of  the_early4iriest- 
hood-were  divination,  guarding  and  ministering  at  the  shrines 
b  Functions  ^^  Yahwch,  and  teaching.  Kent  on  the  basis 
Services  as  of  Deuteronomy  xxxiii.  10  ("They  shall  teach 

Teachers.  Jacob  thy  judgments")  and  certain  other  pas- 

sages asserts  not  only  that  the  early  priests  acted  as  judges 
but  that  it  was  through  the  exercise  of  this  function  that 
much  of  their  most  important  educational  influence  was 
exerted.^^  In  1  Samuel  iv.  18  we  read  that  Eli  had  acted 
as  gL-jJ^dge  for  forty  years.  There  are,  however,  serious 
objections  to  ascribing  this  function  of  acting  as  judges  to 
the  priests  except  in  cases  where  some  matter  of  ritual  was 
involved  as  where  a  tabu  had  been  broken.  But  even  if 
we  deny  that  the  priests  acted  as  judges  in  any  general 
sense  and  if  we  exclude  from  our  conception  of  their  work 
the  forceful  though  indirect  presentation  through  the  chan- 

^1  Judges  xvii.  13. 

^2  Emil  Schiirer,  A  History  of  the  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of 
Jesus  Christ,  Div.  II,  Vol.  I,  pp.  223-229,  gives  an  excellent  brief  ac- 
count of  the  rise  and  development  of  the  order  of  Levites. 

^^  C.  F.  Kent,  The  Great  Teachers  of  Judaism  and  Christianity. 
pp.  44ff. 


34  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

nel  of  their  judgments,  of  civic,  political,  moral  .and  relig- 
ious lessons,  there  nevertheless  remain  many  activities  in 
which  they  appear  discharging  a  teaching  function. '  Through 
their  declaration  of  the  will  of  Yahweh,  discovered  by  the 
use  of  the  sacred  lot  or  by  some  other  means  of  divination, 
they  created  and  disseminated  conceptions  of  Yahweh.  They 
organized  and  directed  public  festivals  many  of  which  were 
little  less  than  dramatized  lessons  in  religion  and  history. 
They  taught  to  the  individual  resorting  to  them  in  private 
and  to  the  multitude  publicly  assembled  in  the  temple  or 
in  the  open,  forms  of  worship.  They  collected  and  trans- 
mitted (at  first  orally,  later  by  writing)  laws,  rites,  cere- 
monies, myths,  legends  and  history  (cf.  Malachi  ii.  7). 
w^hey  compiled,  edited  and  transmitted  this  literature.  They 
put  much  of  it  into  forms  easy  to  grasp  and  remember  and 
taught  it  to  the  people.  Through  their  literary  efforts  they 
began  the  compilation  of  that  great  body  of  literature  which 
still  remains  the  world's  unsurpassed  text  for  religious  and 
moral  instruction.  Their  communities  were  the  first  organ- 
ized groups  in  ancient  Israel  providing  definite  and  special 
instruction  for  a  class  (the  priesthood)  definitely,  though 
by  no  means  solely,  devoted  to  teaching.^* 

Saul,  unable  to  find  his  father's  asses,  resorted  to  Samuel, 
the  seer,  much  as  some  to-day  resort  to  fortune-tellers  or 
Prophets  or  Ora-  clairvoyants.^^  Undoubtedly  long  before  Sam- 
tor-Teachers,  ucl's  time  many  a  seer  (Heb.  roeh)  and  diviner 
a.  Origin.  (Heb.  kosem)  was  to  be  found  living  in  the 

various  tribes.  Such  individuals  were  believed  to  possess  un- 
usual means  o"f  ascertaining  the  divine  will  or  of  communi- 
cating with  divine  powers.  The  soothsaying  priest  and  the 
kosem,  and  probably  also  the  roeh,  based  their  declarations 
largely  upon  the  observation  of  objective  physical  phenom- 
ena. It  is  probable  that  the  prophet  (Heb.  sing,  nabi,  pi.  ne- 

***  For  a  discussion  of  the  priests  as  teachers  see  Chapter  V,  De- 
cline of  Priests  and  Prophets  as  Teachers. 

"  1  Samuel  ix.  Iff. 


EDUCATION   DURING  THE   NATIVE   PERIOD.  35 

biim)  emerged  by  a  process  of  continual  development  from 
the  earlier  roeh.^^  It  is  possible  also  that  "The  signs  or  sym- 
bolic acts  of  the  prophets  originated  in  actions  of  sympathetic 
magic."'*^  However  that  may  be,  "the  prophet's  function 
became  in  an  increasing  degree  a  function  of  mind  and  not 
merely  of  traditional  routine  or  mechanical  technique."'^®  In 
other  words  the  nabi  himself  became  the  subjective  channel 
through  which  Yahweh  spoke. 

The  Hebrew  prophets  were  not  primarily  nor  chiefly 
foretellers  of  the  fiiture.  Their  importance  is  due  to  the 
b~Entrance  into  P^^*  ^^^^  played  in  public  affairs  and  to  their 
Public  Affairs—  servicc  as  public  teachers.  Their  rise  to  the 
Characteristics.  pQgition  of  publiclcaders  in  Israel  is  contem- 
poraneous with  the  rise  of  the  monarchy.  Among  the  causes 
which  explain  their  entrance  into  the  arena  of  public  affairs 
three  may  be  mentioned:  (1)  the  need  of  seers  at  the  royal 
court  to  declare  the  will  of  Yahweh  when  important  under- 
takings were  being  contemplated  and  upon  other  occasions ; 
(2)  the  needjof  religious  reform;  (3)  the  need  of  social 
reform. 

Religious  and  social  abuses  (e.  g.,  idolatry  and  the  in- 
creasing oppression  of  the  poor),  combined  with  a  constant 
fear  of  outside  foes,  resulted  in  bringing  together  devout 
men,  endowed  with  a  greater  vision,  yearning  for  reform 
and  moved  by  religious  and  patriotic  zeal  mounting  fre- 
quently to  frenzy.  Such  bands  went  by  the  name  of  prophets 
or  "sons  of  prophets."  They  appear  to  have  lived  in  com- 
munities frequently  in  the  vicinity  of  some  famous  sanc- 
tuary as  Beth-El  and  Gilgal.  Some  prophets,  such  as  Sam- 
uel and  Elisha,  were  intimately  associated  with  such  com- 
munities ;  others,  like  Elijah,  generally  worked  independently. 

^®  1  Samuel  ix.  9. 

^"^  Wm.  Robertson  Smith  and  Owen  C.  Whitehouse,  "The  Prophets 
of  the  Old  Testament,"  Enc.  Brit,  11th  ed.,  XXII,  442b. 

«8  0.   C.  Whitehouse,  "Hebrew  Religion,"  Enc.  Brit.,  11th   ed., 
XIII,  182a. 


36  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

In  contrast  to  the  priestly  order  the  prophets  were  a  lay 
or^T.  They  were  also  an  open  order,"X  e.,  the  spirit  of 
prophecy  might  come  upon  any  one,  whereupon  he  would 
begin  to  prophesy  and  would  be  numbered  among  the  proph- 
ets.'^^    Women  as  well  as  men  were  included  in  the  ranks.^° 

"The  seer  appears  individually With  the  proj[)hets  it  is 

quite  otherwise;  they  appear  in  bands;  their  prophesying 
is  a  united  exercise  accompanied  by  music,  and  seemingly 
dance  music ;  it  is  marked  by  strong  excitement  which  some- 
times acts  contagiously."®^ 

Such  prophets  as  Amos,  Hosea  and  Isaiah  were  public 
poets  and  orators.  Like  Jeremiah  they  probably  spoke  their 
c  Literary  prophecics  first  and  then  later  committed  them 

Work.  to  writing.®^    Their  literary  products  included 

orations  delivered  in  public,  tracts  intended  for  public  dis- 
tribution but  not  oral  recitation,  codes,®*  history®*  and  sum- 
maries of  their  own  actions.  They  cast  their  utterances  into 
poetic  form,  choosing  the  meter  best  adapted  to  the  mes- 
sage. These  works,  oral  or  written,  served  as  texts  for 
u^heir  own  disciples  and  for  future  generations. 

It  is  futile  to  attempt  to  state  how  extensive  was  the 
provision  made  by  prophet  communities  for  training  and 
d  Education  in  instructing  their  members.  It  is  impossible 
Prophet  Commu-  to  accept  the  vicw  presented  by  some  writers 
that  the  prophets  established  colleges  presided 
over  by  a  senior  member,  in  which  music,  oratory,  poetry, 
law  and  other  advanced  studies  were  taught.  However,  in 
view  of  the  general  state  of  culture  in  the  monarchical 

69  1  Samuel  x.  11-12;  xix.  20-24. 

«<^  E,  g.,  Deborah,  Judges  iv.  5 ;  Huldah,  2  Kings  xxii.  14. 

61  Wm.  Robertson  Smith  and  Owen  C.  Whitehouse,  "The  Prophets 
of  the  Old  Testament,"  Enc.  Brit,  11th  ed.,  XXII,  441c. 

62  Jeremiah  xxxvi  relates  how  Jeremiah  dictated  an  epitome  of 
his  prophecy. 

63  E.  g.j'The  Book  of  Instruction. 

64  Charles  F.  Kent,  Beginnings  of  Hebrew  History,  p.  36.  The 
Judean  prophets  began  writing  a  comprehensive  history  of  Israel 
about  825  B.  C 


EDUCATION  DURING  THE  NATIVE  PERIOD.  37 

period  and  of  the  need  the  prophets  would  have  of  a  knowl- 
edge of  reading,  writing,  literature,  oratory  and  composi- 
tion, there  is  no  valid  reason  against  the  assumption  that 
some  provision  was  made  for  instruction  in  some  or  all  of 
these  branches.  Isaiah  evidently  had  a  group  of  disciples 
who  wrote  down  his  utterances  and  recorded  his  work.®'' 

The  prophets  were  wandering  teachers.     In  their  own 

eyes  and  in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  they  were  Yahweh's 

divinely  commissioned  messengers.  Wherever 

Teachers— Times  there  was  an  Opportunity  to  make  known  his 

and  Places  of      ^ju^  whercver  there  was  need  of  protest  against 

Instruction.  .,  ,  .     •  •    i  . 

evils  or  of  encouragement  in  righteousness, 
thither  they  betook  themselves.  "Sometimes  he  (the  prophet) 
appeared  in  the  court  before  the  king  and  princes,  some- 
times he  appealed  frOm  the  rulers  to  the  people.  Often  the 
temple  court.  . .  .was  the  scene  of  the  prophet's  teaching."®' 
Many  examples  might  be  given  from  the  work  of  Hosea, 
Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel  and  other  prophets,  showing  the  i, 

extensive  use  the  prophets  made  of  symbol-  7 

f.    Methods.  .  .  ,  .  ,  ,     i        .  •  ,       . 

ism,  the  object  lesson  and  the  dramatic  method- 
Jeremiah,  wishing  to  dissuade  the  Judeans  from  joining 
Egypt  and  the  surrounding  tribes  in  a  revolt  against  Baby- 
lonia, made  a  number  of  wooden  yokes.  One  he  wore  him- 
self, the  others  he  carried  for  the  foreign  ambassadors.®^ 
Isaiah,  to  give  force  to  his  message  to  king  Hezekiah  not 
to  join  with  Egypt  against  Assyria,  for  three  years  dressed 
like  a  captive  and  went  barefoot  through  the  streets  of 
Jerusalem  to  picture  the  captivity  such  rashness  would 
bring.®® 

^^  Isaiah  viii.  16. 

®®  C.  F.  Kent,  The  Great  Teachers  of  Judaism  and  Christianity 
p.  25. 

«^  Jeremiah  xxvii  and  xxviii.    "The  account  is  not  from  Jeremiah 
himself  but  seems  to  rest  upon  good  information." 

*®  Isaiah  xx.  3. 


38  EDUCATION   IN   ANCIENT   ISRAEL. 

It  may  be  seriously  doubted  whether  any  nation  has  ever 
produced  a  group  of  religious  and  moral  teachers  com- 
parable with  the  prophets  of  ancient  Israel.  Through  their 
spoken  public  addresses  and  writings  they  became  creators 
g.  Educational  of  national  religious  and  social  ideals,  critics 
Importance.  ^nd  iuspirers  of  public  policies,  denunciators 
of  social  wrongs,  preachers  of  individual  and  social  right- 
eousness, and  the  source  and  channel  of  an  ever  loftier  con- 
ception of  Yahweh  and  of  the  mission  of  Israel.^®  In  ful- 
filling each  of  these  capacities  they  were  acting  as  public 
teachers.  In  every  national  crisis  they  were  at  hand  to 
denounce,  to  encourage,  to  comfort  and  always  to  instruct. 
They  were  the  public  conscience  of  Israel,  the  soul  of  its 
religion,  the  creators  of  public  opinion,  its  most  conspicuous, 
its  most  revered,  its  most  convincing  teachers. 

«»  See  Chapter  I,  paragraph  on  the  Prophetic  Conception  of  Yah- 
weh. 


CHAPTER  HI. 

GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  PERIOD  OF 
REACTION  TO  FOREIGN  INFLUENCES. 


GENERAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  PERIOD  OF 
REACTION  TO  FOREIGN  INFLUENCES.^: 

FROM  586  B.  C.  TO  70  A.  D. 


"Comfort  ye,  comfort  ye,  my  people,  saith 
your  God,  Speak  ye  comfortably  to  Jerusalem, 
and  cry  unto  her,  that  her  time  of  service  is 
accomplished,  that  her  iniquity  is  pardoned; 
that  she  hath  received  of  Yahweh's  hand  double 
for  all  her  sins." — Isaiah  xl.  1-2. 


Summary  of  Chapter. 

In  586  B.  C.  Jerusalem  with  its  temple  was  destroyed  by  the 
Babylonians.  Thousands  of  Jews  were  transported  to  Babylonia.  The 
Exile  had  begun.  The  Jews  in  Babylon  found  themselves  in  the 
midst  of  a  civilization  far  in  advance  of  their  own.  A  literary  re- 
naissance ensued,  one  of  whose  most  important  products  was  a  code 
of  laws  known  as  the  giiesil^iCode,  governing  every  phase  of  life  and 
destined  to  become  the  basis  of  education. 

From  the  Babylonian  Exile,  586  B.  C,  to  the  fall  of  Jerusalem, 
70  A.  D.,  with  the  exception  of  the  Maccabean  century,  167-63  B.  C, 
the  Jews  were  always  in  subjection  to  some  powerful  foreign  nation, 
Babylonia,  Persia,  Greece,  Syria,  Egypt,  Rome.  During  this  time 
thousands  of  Jewish  communities,  collectively  called  the  diaspora,  be- 
came established  throughout  the  world. 


HISTORICAL  OUTLINE. 

In  the  year  597  B.  C.  Nebuchadnezzar  captured  Jerusa- 
lem and  carried  as  captives  to  Babylon  King  Jehoiachin,  his 
royal  household,  a  large  number  of  nobles  and  many  artisans. 


42  EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

Not  many  years  had  passed  before  Nebuchadnezzar  was 
forced  to  send  an  army  to  quell  rebelHous  Judah.  After 
Babylonian  Exile  a  year  and  a  half's  siege  Jerusalem  fell,  586 
586-538  B.  c.  g.  C.  The  city  and  temple  which  had  been 
spared  in  597  were  sacked  and  burned.  Thousands  of  Jews 
were  deported  to  Babylon,  and  Judea  was  made  a  part  of 
the  Babylonian  province ;  the  Exile  had  begun.^ 

The  Jews  in  Babylon  found  themselves  in  the  midst  of  a 
civilization  far  in  advance  of  their  own.  Schools  and  li- 
Literary  Re-  braries,  some  of  them  possessing  thousands  of 
naissance.  works,  Were  widely  spread.     A  considerable 

knowledge  of  medicine,  astronomy,  mathematics,  architec- 
ture, engineering,  and  an  elaborate  code  of  laws  dealing 
with  every  phase  of  life,  bore  witness  to  Babylonian  intel- 
lectual development.  Such  an  environment  was  bound  to 
stimulate  literary  activity.  Further  stimulus  arose  from  the 
w/fews'  passionate  desire  to  preserve  their  national  laws,  his- 
tory, traditions  and  temple  rites.  Prior  to  the  Exile,  Jeru- 
salem had  been  declared  the  sole  lawful  place  of  sacrifice. 
The  priests  now  freed  from  their  customary  duties  turned 
to  instruction  and  writing,  as  did  also  the  prophets.  The 
result  was  a  literary  renaissance  out  of  which  came  forth 
such  original  works  as  the  prophecies  of  Ezekiel  and  the 
Second  Isaiah ;  new  editions  of  such  already  existing  works 
as  Amos,  Hosea,  Deuteronomy  and  Joshua;  compilations 
of  codes  and  detailed  records  of  rites,  customs  and  cere- 
monies. 

The  Exile  lasted  only  forty-eight  years :^  in  538  B.C. 
Cyrus  of  Persia  conquered  Babylon.  The  ^Persian  rulers 
Persian  Period  permitted  the  restoration  of  the  Jewish  com- 
539-332  B.  c.  muuity  at  Jerusalem.  The  rebuilding  of  the 
temple  followed  (520-516  B.C.),  an  event  of  supreme  im- 
portance to  religion  and  religious  education. 

^  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History,  p.  297. 

2  By  Jewish  writers  frequently  considered  to  have  lasted  until  the 
dedication  of  the  second  temple,  516  B.  C,  i.  e.,  a  total  of  seventy  years. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  REACTION  TO  FOREIGN   INFLUENCES.       43 

In  332  B.C.  Alexander  the  Great  of  Greece  defeated 
Darius,  King  of  Persia,  and  then  pushed  his  conquests  south 
Greek  Period  332-  through  Palestine  and  Egypt.  Following  Alex- 
167  B.  c.  ander's  death  in  323  B.  C.  Palestine  became 

a  bone  of  contention  between  the  rival  kingdoms  of  Egypt 
and  Syria.    For  over  a  hundred  and  twenty  years  from  320 

B.  C.  when  Ptolemy  I  captured  Jerusalem,  Judah  was  in  the 
possession  now  of  Egypt,  now  of  Syria.    Finally  in  198  B. 

C.  the  Seleucids  of  Syria  secured  the  supremacy,  which  they 
retained  until  the  Maccabean  revolt  167  B.  C.^ 

A  part  of  Alexander's  ambition  had  been  to  Hellenize  the 
East.  Wherever  he  had  conquered  he  had  planted  colonies 
of  Greeks  and  had  introduced  the  Greek  language,  Greek 
religion,  Greek  political  institutions  and  Greek  schools.  His 
efforts  to  Hellenize  Judah  were  continued  by  his  successors, 
the  Ptolemies  of  Egypt  and  the  Seleucids  of  Syria,  who  alike 
endeavored  to  wean  or  force  the  Jews  away  from  their  native 
religion,  culture,  institutions  and  education.  The  Seleucids, 
not  satisfied  with  the  rapidity  with  which  the  Jews  were  be- 
coming Hellenized,  resorted  to  violent  measures.  A  Greek 
altar  was  erected  on  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  in  the  temple 
at  Jerusalem.  Possession  of  the  books  of  the  Law  and 
Sabbath  observance  were  punished  by  death.  Altars  to 
Greek  gods  were  erected  everywhere  and  the  heads  of  fam- 
ilies were  called  upon  to  worship  at  them  under  penalty  of 
death.* 

As  a  result  of  these  oppressive  measures  the  Jews  rose 
in  revolt  in  167  B.  C.  under  the  leadership  of  an  aged  priest 
Maccabean  Pe-  Mattathias  and  his  five  sons,  the  Hasmoneans. 
riod  167-63  B.  c.  Within  two  years  religious  liberty  was  re- 
stored. Successive  Jewish  leaders,  by  political  intrigue  and 
by  playing  off  one  aspirant  to  the  Syrian  throne  against 
another,  succeeded  in  gaining  concessions  which  ultimately 

8  Judas  Maccabeus  victorious  in  his  first  battle  with  the  Syrians. 
The  period  is  commonly  dated  175-63  B.  C 

*  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History,  pp.  444-445.  George  Adam 
Smith,  Jerusalem : to  70  A.  D.,  II,  pp.  367-436. 


44  EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

restored  to  Judah  a  national  independence  that  continued 
until  the  Romans  took  Jerusalem  in  63  B.  C. 

The  rule  of  the  Romans  was  attended  by  disastrous  con- 
sequences. Roman  conquerors  on  their  way  through  Pal- 
Roman  Period  63  cstiuc  plundered  the  temple,  levied  extortionate 
B.  C.-70  A.  D.  tribute  and  carried  thousands  of  Jews  away 
as  slaves.  Local  aspirants  for  power  kept  alive  internal 
jealousies  and  strife.  One  of  these,  Herod,  with  the  aid 
of  Rome,  captured  Jerusalem  in  37  B.  C.  and  began  his 
reign  which  continued  till  4  B.  C.  His  son,  Archelaus,  who 
succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Samaria,  Judea  and  Idumea, 
ruled  in  such  outrageous  fashion  that  after  ten  years  the 
oppressed  Jews  appealed  to  Rome  (6  A.  D.).  Augustus  de- 
posed Archelaus  and  placed  Judea  under  the  rule  of  a 
Roman  procurator.  Roman  oppression  and  mismanagement 
resulted  in  continual  efforts  at  revolt.  These  efforts  cul- 
minated in  the  insurrection  which  began  66  A.  D.  and  ended 
^^'in  70  A.  D.  with  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Roman 
Titus.'^  Later  came  the  dispersion  throughout  the  Roman 
world  of  the  remnant  of  miserable  survivors.  All  hope 
of  a  national  political  existence  was  now  at  an  end.  The 
story  of  how,  in  the  centuries  which  followed,  this  wonder- 
ful people  managed  through  their  system  of  religious  edu- 
cation to  preserve  their  nationality  belongs  to  medieval  and 
modern  history,  and  consequently  has  no  place  in  the  present 
account. 

GENERAL  CHARACTERISTICS. 

The  six  and  a  half  centuries  of  contact  with  foreign 
powers  outlined  above  were  marked  by  many  important 
Hierocracy  and  changes.  During  this  time  the  priesthood 
Democracy.  arose  to  a  position  of  political  power  second 
only  to  that  of  the   foreign  rulers.     Carefully  organized, 

**  The  destruction  of  Jerusalem  is  one  of  the  most  thrilling  as  well 
as  one  of  the  most  horrifying  events  in  ancient  history.  An  excellent 
description  will  be  found  in  Carl  H.  Cornill,  History  of  the  People 
of  Israel,  pp.  272-301. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  REACTION  TO  FOREIGN   INFLUENCES.       45 

protected  and  assured  a  generous  competence  by  laws  re- 
garded as  coming  from  Yahweh,  the  priests  grew  in  in- 
fluence and  numbers.  Following  vain  post-Exilic  efforts  to 
perpetuate  the  kingship,  the  high  priest  became  the  head 
of  the  Jewish  state,  recognized  as  such,  not  only  by  the 
Jews  themselves,  but  by  their  foreign  masters.  With  the 
Jewish  state  a  hierocracy,  patriotism  and  piety  were  one. 
To  be  law-abiding  was  to  be  religious,  and  to  be  religious 
one  must'  be  law-abiding.  The  importance  of  this  to  the 
history  of  Jewish  education  cannot  be  overestimated. 

In  contrast  with  the  tendency  fostered  by  the  priesthood 
toward  the  creation  of  a  caste-bound  society,  there  were 
certain  marked  tendencies  toward  democracy,  in  part  the 
outgrowth  of  the  ideals  and  teachings  of  the  prophe^  -  and 
in  part  the  outgrowth  of  Greek  influence.  These  "i  lude 
a  growing  autonomy  for  individual  cities,  and  the  reorgani- 
zation of  the  senate  or  Sanhedrin.^ 

Prior  to  the  Exile,  the  Hebrews  as  an  independent 
people,  often  as  conquerors,  had  borrowed  freely  such  ele- 
Heiienism— Re-  "^^^"^^5  as  they  chosc  from  foreign  nations, 
ligious  and  The  Hcllenizcd  peoples  with  whom  they  came 

in  contact  from  the  time  of  the  Exile  onward 
were  for  the  most  part  their  conquerors.  The  effects  of 
Greek  influence  were  twofold:  the  intellectual  and  esthetic j 
aspects  of  life  were  extended  and  enriched,  but  this  intel- 
lectual enrichment  was  accompanied  by  religious  and  moral 
decadence.  "The  rich  Judeans  soon  copied  the  Greek  cus- 
toms, and  callous  to  the  promptings  of  shame  and  honor, 
they  introduced  singers,  dancers  and  dissolute  women  at 
these  festivals."^  Greek  religious  cults,  including  the  orgi- 
astic rites  of  Dionysus  were  adopted  by  ^  many  faithless 
Jews.  Skepticism,  repudiation  of  Judaism  and  licentiousness 
followed.®     Amid  these  conditions  there  arose  among  the 

«  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History,  pp.  417-418. 
7  H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jews,  I,  428d. 
» Ibid.,  426-428. 


46  EDUCATION   IN   ANCIENT   ISRAEL. 

Jews  distinct  parties:  one,  eager  for  political  preferment 
who  sought  to  curry  favor  with  their  foreign  masters  by 
adopting  Greek  culture,  institutions  and  religion  f  a  second, 
endeavoring  to  exlude  foreign  innovations  and  to  preserve 
unsullied  the  customs  and  institutions  of  the  fathers ;  a 
third,  representing  a  somewhat  middle  ground.  It  was  the 
second  of  these  three  groups  which  fostered  that  attitude 
toward  life  commonly  known  as  Judaism,  which  emphasized, 
often  unduly,  all  rites  and  customs  that  marked  the  Jews  as 
a  peculiar  and  distinct  people  consecrated  to  the  worship 
and  service  of  Yahweh. 

From  the  time  of  the  Babylonian  Exile  onward,  various 
foreign  conquerors  deported  as  slaves  large  numbers  of 
„^    _.  Jews.     Other  Jews  left  Palestine  voluntarily 

The  Diaspora.        *'  *'       .  •  ^  r,- 

to  escape  oppression,  to  avoid  conflict  or  to 
avail  themselves  of  opportunities  in  foreign  lands.  Thus 
there  gradually  arose  outside  of  Palestine  throughout  the 
entire  civilized  world  a  vast  multitude  .of  Jewish  cokmmuni- 
ties.^°  This  mojvremeDV  which  began  with  the  Exilc-iiriiie 
^ sixth  centurv.  reached  its  climax  in  the  Roman  period.^^ 
Strabo  writes,  even  in  Sulla's  time,  "there  is  hardly  a  place 
in  the  world  which  has  not  admitted  this  people  and  is  not 
possessed  by  it."^^  Through  the  diaspora,^^  then,  as  well  as 
through  the  settlement  of  aliens  in  Judea,  Jewish  customs, 
beliefs  and  institutions  were  constantly  threatened  by  for- 
eign innovations. 

®  Joseph,  grandson  of  Simeon  the  Just  (d.  208  B.  C),  is  a  notorious 
!i^?''^5f"^^^ive  of  this  type.  See  H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jews,  I, 
423-431. 

1^  There  is  evidence  that  flourishing  Jewish  communities  existed 
1?  J?^yP^  ^*  Daphne  and  Elephantine  as  early  as  the  sixth  century 
B.  C. 

"A  recent  English  work  of  much  interest  is  D.  Askowith,  The 
Toleration  and  Persecution  of  the  Jews  in  the  Roman  Empire. 

12  Strabo,  frag.  6,  cited  by  Josephus,  Antiq.,  XIV,  7,  2. 

/^Riaspora  is  the  term  collectively  applied  to  the  body  of  Jews 
living  in  communities  scattered  throughout  the  world. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

EDUCATION  IN  THE  FAMILY  AFTER  THE 

EXILE. 


EDUCATION  IN  THE  FAMILY  AFTER  THE 

EXILE. 

"Lo,  children  are  a  heritage  of  Jehovah : 
And  the  fruit  of  the  womb  is  his  reward." 

—  Psalm  cxxvii.  3. 

"And  thou  shalt  teach  them  diligently  unto 
thy  children." — Deuteronomy  vi.  7. 

Summary  of  Chapter. 

The  Hebrews  regarded  children  as  a  gift  from  God.  The  sacred 
Law  placed  upon  parents  the  responsibility  of  acting  as  the  child's 
first  teachers  of  religion.  The  mother  as  a  teacher  occupied  a  place 
subordinate  to  that  of  the  father  but  nevertheless  an  exceedingly 
important  one.  Generally  speaking,  the  education  of  the  child  was 
marked  by  severity,  corporal  punishment  being  highly  commended 
and  freely  used.  Nevertheless  Hebrew  literature  furnishes  abundant  •— 
evidence  of  the  deeply  tender  affection  of  parents  for  their  children 
and  children  for  their  parents.  Perjods,  more  or  less  distinct,  were  <-^ 
recognized  in  the  life  and  education  of  the  child,  the  dividing  line 
being  generally  marked  by  some  religious  rite.  Education  within  the 
family  consisted  chiefly  of  training  and  instruction  in  religion,  morals, 
manners  and  industrial  occupations.  The  aim  of  all  religious  instruc- 
tion was  to  develop  in  the  child  a  c6nsciousness  of  his  personal 
responsibility  to  Yahweh. 

THE  FAMILY  AS  AN  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTION.! 

The  intensity  of  the  Hebrew  desire  for  children  is 
revealed  in  such  Old  Testament  narratives  as  those  of 
Desire  for  Chii-  the  childless  Sarah,  Rebccca,  Rachel  and  Han- 
dren.  nah.     The  racial  attitude  is  beautifully  ex- 

pressed in  the  well-known  hues: 

1  A  number  of  topics,  such  as  Education  in  the  Family,  Festivals 
and  the  Education  of  Girls,  treated  in  this  and  succeeding  chapters, 


50  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 


"Lo,  children  are  a  heritage  of  Jehovah  : 
And  the  fruit  of  the  womb  is  his  reward. 
As  arrows  in  the  hand  of  a  mighty  man, 
So  are  the  children  of  youth,  ^ 

Happy  is  the  man  that  hath  his  quiver  full  of  themr^ 

Throughout  thp^tir^  h^'^^^T-y  nf  the-  TTf^hrpw^g  the  fam- 
iy^  ily  was  regarded  as  the  fundamental  educational  institution. 
Parental  Parents  were  held  responsible  not  only  for 

Responsibility,  ^he  instruction  of  their  children  but  for  their 
conduct.  In  time  the  laws  fixed  thirteen  as  the  age  at  which 
the  boy  became  personally  responsible  for  the  J^w,^  up  to 
this  age  his  father  was  held  responsible  not  only  for  the 
boy's  education  but  for  his  conduct.  Even  the  rise  of  a 
system  of  elementary  schools  devoted  to  the  task  of  daily 
religious  instruction  did  not  free  the  home  of  this  its  most 
important  responsibility.  It  could  not,  for  to  parents  direct 
from  Yahweh  came  the  command: 

"And  thou  shalt  teach  them   (the  laws  of  Yahweh)   diligently 

unto  thy  children, 
And  shalt  talk  of  them  when  thou  sittest  in  thy  house, 
And  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way. 
And  when  thou  risest  up. 

"And  thou  shalt  bind  them  for  a  sign  upon  thy  hand, 
And  they  shall  be  for  frontlets  between  thine  eyes. 
And  thou  shalt  write  them  upon  the  door-posts  of  thy  house, 
And  upon  thy  gates."     (Deuteronomy  vi.  7-9.) 

The  zizii  tefillin*  and  mezuzah'  show  with  what  degree 
of  exactness  the  Hebrews  sought  to  carry  out  these  com- 
mands. 

belong  quite  as  much  to  the  Native  Period.  Discussion  of  these 
topics  has  been  reserved  until  the  post-Exilic  Period,  owing  to  the 
vagueness  and  uncertainty  of  the  data  available  with  respect  to  them 
in  the  earlier  period.  Consequently  much  of  the  data  given  in  this 
chapter  refers  also  to  the  Native  Period. 
2  Psalm  cxxvii.  3-5. 

»  Babylonian  Talmud,  "Tract  Aboth,"  V,  near  end.     (In  Rodkin- 
son's  translation,  p.  133.) 

*  See  below.  Distinguishing  Rites,  paragraphs  on  Zizit  and  Tefillin. 
^  See  below,  Religimi,  paragraph  on  Mezuzah. 


EDUCATION   IN   THE   FAMILY  AFTER  THE   EXILE.  51 

The  ancient   Hebrew   family,   writes   Cornill,   "was   an 

absolute  monarchy,  with  the  father  as  absolute  monarch 

,  .    ^      at  the  head."®    The  evidences  of  this  authority 

Parental  Author-  _  ,      ,  m  j 

ity  a  E^ine  are  many.  The  wife  and  children  were  upon 
Right.  ^j^g  same  basis  as  slaves.    A  father  could  sell 

his  daughters  into  marriage  or  slavery,  though  not  to  for- 
eigners.^ Infanticide  was  not  permitted,  as  far  as  our  rec- 
ords show,  but  it  is  probable  that  in  early  times  upon  certain 
occasions  fathers  offered  up  their  sons  and  daughters  as 
living  sacrifices.®  In  historic  times  the  modern  Rousseauian 
theory  that  parents  must  win  their  authority  over  their  chil- 
dren by  convincing  their  offspring  of  the  superiority  of 
parental  wisdom  and  goodness  found  no  place  in  Hebrew 
thought.    On  the  contrary,  parents  ruled  by  divine  right : 

"For  the  Lord  hath  given  the  father  honor  over  the  children 
And  hath  confirmed  the  authority  of  the  mother  over  the  sons."® 

The  Deuteronomic  law  provided  that  if  punishment 
failed  to  beget  obedience  in  a  wayward  intemperate  son, 
the  father  and  mother  should  bring  him  before  the  elders 
of  the  city  and  say,  "This  our  son  is  stubborn  and  rebellious, 
he  will  not  obey  our  voice ;  he  is  a  riotous  liver  and  a  drunk- 
ard."^*' No  provision  was  made  in  this  law  for  any  investi- 
gation nor  for  any  defense  by  the  accused  child.  The  parents 
acted  both  as  accusers  and  prosecutors,  the  elders  were  the 
judges."  If  the  parents'  accusation  was  accepted  by  the 
elders  of  the  city,  thereupon  "All  the  men  of  the  city  shall 
stone  him  (the  guilty  son)  with  stones  that  he  die."^^ 

^  Carl  H.  Cornill,  The  Culture  of  Ancient  Israel,  p.  87. 

■^  Exodus  xxi.  7-11. 

®  This  inference  seems  justified  from  the  story  of  Abraham  and 
Isaac,  from  that  of  Jephthah's  daughter  and  from  the  evidence  of  the 
continuance  of  Moloch  worship  down  to  the  reforms  of  Josiah,  621 
B.  C. 

»  Ecclesiasticus  iii.  2.  lo  Deuteronomy  xxi.  20. 

1^  Carl  H.  Cornill,  The  Culture  of  Ancient  Israel,  p.  79. 

12  Deuteronomy  xxi.  21. 


52  ^         EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  the  Deuteronomic  law, 
severe  as  it  is  and  significant  as  it  is  for  the  light  it  throws 
upon  the  degree  of  authority  granted  parents,  is  even  more 
significant  as  a  sign  of  the  attempt  to  put  certainOchecks 
upon  this  authority.  In  earlier  times  there  had  been  no  check 
upon  the  parents'  authority.  The  Deuteronomic  law  made  it 
impossible  for  the  parents  to  do  with  their  child  as  they 
pleased.  Their  act  must  be  reviewed  by  elders  of  the  city 
as  a  court :  thus  a  higher  authority,  not  the  parents,  imposed 
the  death  penalty. 

Many  passages  similar  to  Deuteronomy  vi.  7-9  might 
be  quoted  in  which  the  father  is  enjoined  to  instruct  his 

^  Parents  as  SOU  or  his  children  in  the  divine  laws,^^  in 

Teachers.  particular  rites  such  as  Passover,^*  or  in  the 

significance  of  sacred  monuments  or  landmarks.^^  Both 
parents  were  held  responsible  for  the  religious  education 
of  the  children,  but  the  chief  responsibility  fell  upon  the 

V  father  as  head  of  the  household.  The  mother  is  frequently^ 
mentioned  in  the  Scriptures  as  a  teacher,  but  generally  in 
conjunction  with  and  subordinate  to  the  father.^®  There 
is  only  one  passage  in  which  the  mother  is  represented  as 
acting  independently  in  this  capacity  :^^  the  first  division 
of  Proverbs  is  introduced  with  the  title:  "The  Words  of 
Lemuel,  King  of  Massa,^®  which  his  mother  taught  him." 

.         Proverbs  and  the  apocryphal  book  Ecclesiasticus,  both 
designed  as  manuals  for  rehgious  and  moral  instruction, 

represent  child  nature  as  irresponsible,  way-  ; 
Chii"Natur^     Ward,    foolish   and    rebellious.      Fathers   are 
Corporal  Punish-  wamcd  agaiust  playing  with   their   children 
and  are  advised  to  preserve  an  austere  coun- 
tenance toward  both  sons  and  daughters: 

13  Deuteronomy  iv.'9-lO.  i*  Exodus  xii.  26-27. 

15  Joshua  iv.  21-22.  i6  Proverbs  i.  8. 

"  Carl  H.  Cornill,  The  Culture  of  Ancient  Israel,  p.  92. 

18  Massa  located  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Holy  Land,  near  to  Du- 
mah,  one  of  the  original  seats  of  the  Ishmaelites.  See  Genesis  xxv. 
14  and  1  Chronicles  i.  30. 


EDUCATION   IN   THE   FAMILY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.  53 


"Cocker  thy  child  and  he  shall  make  thee  afraid, 
Play  with  him  and  he  will  bring  thee  to  heaviness.''^^ 

'  "Laugh  not  with  him,  lest  thou  have  sorrow  with  him 
And  lest  thou  gnash  thy  teeth  in  the  end."2o 

"Hast  thou  daughters?    Have  a  care  to  their  body 
And  show  not  thyself  cheerful  toward  them/'^i 

A  child's  will  must  be  broken :  **A  horse  not  broken  be- 
cometh  headstrong;  a  child  left  to  himself  becometh  wil- 
ful."^2  *'Bow  down  his  neck  while  he  is  young,  and  beat 
him  on  the  sides  while  he  is  a  child,  lest  he  wax  stubborn  and 
be  disobedient  unto  thee."-^ 

Commendations  of  corporal  punishment  abound: 

"He  that  spareth  his  rod  hateth  his  son. 
But  he  that  loveth  him  chasteneth  him  diligently."^* 

"Chasten  thy  son,  seeing  there  is  hope.  . .  ."^5 

"Wfthhold  not  correction  from  the  child, 
For  if  thou  beat  him  with  the  rod  he  shall  not  die."2« 

That  all  Hebrew  fathers  were  not  of  the  austere  type 
pictured  in  these  passages  is  evident  from  the  necessity  felt 
by  the  authors  for  repeated  admonitions  to  parents  to  be 
severe,  and  from  passages  in  other  books.  Jacob's  love  for 
Joseph  and  the  paternal  love  depicted  by  Jesus  in  the  parable 
of  the  Lost  Son  undoubtedly  were  typical  of  many  fathers. 
Hebrew  poets  wishing  to  picture  the  pity  of  Yahweh  for 
Israel  do  so  by  a  reference  to  earthly  fathers:  "Like  as  a 
father  pitieth  his  children,  so  Jehovah  pitieth  them  that  fear 
him.'* 

i»  Ecclesiasticus  xxx.  9.  20  Jbid.,  xxx.  10. 

21  Ibid.,  vii.  24.  22  ji^id^^  xxx.  8. 

23  Ibid.,  xxx.  12.  24  Proverbs  xiii.  24. 

25  Ibid.,  xix.  18.  26  jijid,^  xxiii.  13. 


54  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 


PERIODS  IN  CHILD  LIFE  AND  EDUCATION. 

The  early  age  at  which  the  boy  assumed  adult  responsi- 
bility made  childhood  distinctly  a  period  for  learning  and 
Childhood  the  training.  This  was  recognized  not  only  in 
Time  for  Learn-  practice  but  in  pedagogical  literature:  "Hast 
*"^'  thou  children?     Instruct  them  and  bow  their 

neck  from  their  youth."^^  "Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he 
should  go,  and  even  when  he  is  old  he  will  not  depart 
from  it."28 

Distinguishing  Rites. 

The  Talmud  distinguished  five  periods-*  in  child  life  and 
education,^^  but  though  frequently  quoted  this  division  does 
not  apply  to  the  pre-Talmudic  period.  Edersheim  discovers 
in  the  Scriptures  eight  "ages  of  man,"  seven  of  which  are 
distinct  periods  ii^  childhood.^^  The  Priestly  Code  provided 
rites  to  mark  the  opening  and  close  of  periods  in  child  life. 
Probably  many  of  these  rites  were  in  existence  long  before 
they  were  embodied  in  the  Law.  Some  arose  perhaps  in 
nomadism,  but  their  antiquity  cannot  be  determined.  It 
must  suffice  to  describe  them. 

Upon  birth  the  new-born  infant  was  bathed  in  water, 
rubbed  in  salt  and  wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes.^^  If  the 
Rites  of  Infancy  child  was  the  first-bom  son  he  belonged  to 
and  Circumcision  Yahweh  and  must  be  redeemed  by  an  offering 
of  five,  shekels. ^^    On  the  eighth  day  after  birth  every  boy 

2*^  Ecclesiasticus  vii.  23.  28  Proverbs  xxir.  6. 

2»  Strictly  speaking  only  four,  as  the  fifth  is  that  of  adultness. 

30  "Tract  Aboth,"  V,  near  end.     (In  Rodkinson's  transl.,  p.  133.) 

31  Alfred  Edersheim,  In  the  Days  of  Christ,  pp.  104-105,  makes 
the  following  divisions:  (1)  new-born  infant,  m.  jeled,  f.  jaldah;  (2) 
suckling,  joneh;  (3)  an  eating  suckling,  olel;  (4)  a  weaned  infant, 
gamut;  (5)  "one  who  clings,"  taph;  (6)  "one  who  has  become  firm 
and  strong,"  m.  elem,  f.  almah;  (7)  youth,  naar;  (8)  "ripened  one," 
bachur. 

32  Ezekiel  xvi.  4 ;  Luke  ii.  7. 

33  Exodus  xiii.  12ff ;  Numbers  xviii.  15. 


EDUCATION   IN  THE  FAMILY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.  55 

was  circumcised^*  and  named,  receiving  his  name  from  his 
father^®  or  from  his  mother.^^  Peritz  found  that  out  of 
forty- four  cases  of  naming  children  mentioned  in  the  Old 
Testament,  four  were  ascribed  to  God,  fourteen  to  men  and 
twenty-six  to  women.^^ 

A  mother  after  the  birth  of  a  son  was  regarded  as  un- 
clean for  a  period  of  seven  plus  thirty-three  days ;  in  the 
Mothers'  Purifi-  casc  of  a  daughter  the  numbers  were  doubled, 
cation  Rites.  making  the  period  fourteen  plus  sixty-six  days. 
During  this  period  the  mother  was  not  allowed  to  touch 
any  sacred  thing  or  to  enter  any  sacred  place.  She  regained 
her  ceremonial  cleanness  at  the  end  of  this  time  by  making 
two  offerings:  (1)  a  burnt-offering,  a  first-year  lamb  (in 
case  the  mother  was  poor,  a  pigeon  or  dove)  ;  (2)  a  sin 
offering,  a  pigeon  or  a  turtle-dove.^® 

Mothers  generally  suckled  their  own  children,^®  although 
nurses  are  sometimes  mentioned.*^  Children  were  ordin- 
arily weaned  at  the  end  of  two  or  three  years,*^ 
the  completion  of  the  weaning  was  sometimes 
celebrated  with  a  feast.*^ 

The  Talmud  states  that  at  thirteen  one  should  assume 
the  responsibility  of  the  commandments,. i.  e.,.become  respon- 
Adoiescent  sible  for  the  Law.*^    The  Scriptures  give  no 

^'***-  positive   information   concerning  any  special 

system  of  education  provided  for  adolescence ;  nevertheless 
in  legends,  traditions,  customs  and  rites  of  later  times  there 
are  many  indications  that  even  from  tribal  days  adolescence 

34  Genesis  xvii.  12-14. 

^^Ihid.,  xvi.  15;  xvii.  19;  Luke  i.  59;  ii.  21. 
38  Genesis  xxix.  32 ;  1  Samuel  i.  20. 

37 1.  J,  Peritz,  "Women  in  the  Ancient  Hebrew  Cult,"  Journal  of 
Biblical  Lit.,  XVII,  13Q-131,  note  36. 

38  Leviticus  xii.  1-8. 

39  Genesis  xxi.  7. 

*o  Ibid.,  xxiv.  59 ;  2  Kings  xi;  2.  ^ 

*i  2  Maccabees  vii.  27 ;  cf .  1  Samuel  i.  22-24. 

*2  H.  A.  White,  "Birth,"  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  I,  301a. 

*3  "Tract  Aboth,"  V,  near  end.     (In  Rodkinson's  transl,  p.  133.) 


56  EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

was  recognized  as  a  period  of  peculiar  social  and  religious 
significance,  and  that  it  was  set  aside  as  a  time  for  definitely 
/^assuming  political  and  religious  obligations  and  was  intro- 
duced with  special  ceremonies.  It  was  when  Jesus  had 
reached  the  age  of  twelve  that  his  parents  felt  the  time  had 
arrived  for  taking  him  to  the  temple  in  Jerusalem.**  Many 
a  Jewish  tradition  and  legend  represents  the  hero  as  having 
made  his  first  great  decision  in  life  at  the  opening  of  adoles- 
cence. According  to  legend,  it  was  at  twelve  that  Moses 
left  Pharaoh's  daughter's  house,  and  that  the  boy  Samuel 
heard  the  voice  of  God  in  the  night.*** 

The  rite  of  circumcision  offers  perhaps  further  evidence 
of   immemorial  recognition  of  the  social  and  educational 

significance  of  adolescence.    The  earliest  Bib- 
Circumcision.        ,.      ,  r     1  •        •     Aa 

heal  account  of  this  rite*®  cannot  be  accepted 
as  an  explanation  of  its  origin  but  only  as  an  attempt  to 
explain  its  origin  ^s  an  infancy  rite.*^  If,  as  is  believed  by 
some,  circumcision  was  originally  a  tribal,  not  a  family  rite 
and  formed  part  of  the  ceremonies  by  which  youths  were 
initiated  into  the  tribe,*^  then  the  inference  seems  justified 
that  in  the  earlier  stages  of  development,  the  Hebrews  in 
common  with  other  primitive  peoples  provided  special  rites 
for  adolescence,  and,  in  conjunction  with  these  special  rites, 
^  special  training.  Assumption  of  responsibility  for  the  Law 
is  to-day  accompanied  by  changes  in  costume  whereby  the 
significance  of  adolescence  is  recognized.  Two  of  these 
changes,  the  zizit  and  the  phylacteries,  will  now  be  con- 
sidered. 

The  early  Hebrews  appear  to  have  worn  as  an  outer 
garment  a  large  piece  of  cloth  of  the  shape  of  a  Scotch  plaid 
generally  called  simlah,  to  the  four  corners  of  which  ^were 

**  Luke  ii.  42. 

***  B.  A.  Hinsdale,  Jesus  as  a  Teacher,  p.  16. 

*«  Exodus  iv.  24-26. 

*7  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History,  p.  67. 

*8  Cheyne  and  Black,  "Circumcision,"  Biblical  Encyclopedia. 


EDUCATION   IN   THE   FAMILY  AFTER  THE   EXILE.  57 

attached  blue  and  white  tassels  or  twisted  threads.     The  ' 
Deuteronomic  law  reads:  "Twisted  threads  (Hebr.  zisit,  in- 
correctly translated  'fringes')  shalt  thou  make 
^"'*'  thee   upon   the    four   corners   of   thy   mantle 

wherewith  thou  coverest  thyself. "^^  The  custom  seems  to 
have  been  a  very  ancient  one  with  magical  or  superstitious 
associations.  In  time  it  took  on  a  spiritual  significance, 
and  the  garment  with  twisted  threads  came  to  be  chiefly 
a  reminder  of  the  obligation  of  the  Jews  to  walk  in  the  Law 
of  Yahweh  and  to  keep  all  his  commandments.^"  Dispersion, 
persecution  and  changes  in  costume  resulted  in  post-Biblical 
times  in  substituting  for  the  simlah  two  garments,  namely, 
(1)  the  tallit  or  prayer-shawl,  an  outer  garment,  and  (2) 
the  arba  kanfot^^  or  small  tallit,  an  undergarment  with 
twisted  threads,  which  is  still  worn  throughout  the  day  by 
orthodox  Jews. 

The  tefillin  (sing,  tefillah)  or  phylacteries,  are  two  ritual- 
istic objects  worn  by  males  over  thirteen  years  of  age  when 
Tefillin  or  Phy-  praying.  Each  consists  of  a  small  parchment 
lacteries.  ^^se  with  a  loop  attached  through  which   a 

strap  may  be  passed.  By  means  of  these  straps  the  wor- 
shiper binds  one  tefillah  on  the  forehead  between  his  eyes, 
the  other  on  the  inner  side  of  his  left  arm.  The  case  of 
the  head  tefillah  is  divided  into  four  compartments  in  each 
of  which  is  one  of  the  four  following  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture: (1)  Exodus  xiii.  1-10;  (2)  Exodus  xiii.  11-16;  (3) 
Deuteronomy  vi.  4-9;  (4)  Deuteronomy  xi.  13-21.  The 
same  passages  of  Scripture  are  placed  in  the  case  of  the 
arm  tefillah  which,  however,  consists  of  only  one  compart- 
ment." 

^^  Deuteronomy  xxii.  12. 

»oA.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  "Fringes,"  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  II, 
68-70. 

^1  J.  M.  Casanowicz,  "Arba  Kanfot,"  Jewish  Encyc,  II,  75d. 

^^  William  Rosenau,  Jewish  Ceremonial  Institutions  and  Customs, 
pp.  59-60,  gives  a  most  excellent  account,  with  illustrations  of  current 
practices. 


58  ,  EDUCATION   IN   ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

The  antiquity  of  the  custom  of  wearing  tefillin  cannot 
be  determined.  The  New  Testament  contains  many  ref- 
erences to  them.^^  Tradition  ascribes  their  origin  to  the 
command  given  in  Exodus  xiii.  16 :  *'And  it  shall  be  a  sign 
for  thee  upon  thy  hand  and  for  frontlets  between  thine 
eyes."  It  is  possible  that  the  foundation  of  the  custom 
may  have  been  laid  in  tribal  days  in  some  custom  of  brand- 

7  ing  or  tattooing  members  of  the  tribe  to  distinguish  them 
or  to  protect  them  against  magic.  "Originally  the  'sign'  was 
tattooed  on  the  skin,  the  forehead  ('between  the  eyes')  and 
the  hand  naturally  being  chosen  for  display.  Later  some 
visible  object  worn  between  the  eyes  or  bound  on  the  hand 
was  substituted  for  the  writing  on  the  skin."^* 

From  the  time  when  entrance  upon  adolescence  was 
first  accepted  as  the  period  for  assuming  adult  religious, 
political  and  social  responsibilites,  it  is  probable  that  the 
youth  was  ushered  into  his  new  rights  and  duties  by  some 

^  period  of  special  preparation  and  by  special  religious  cere- 
monies. It  was  apparently  not  until  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury^^  that  the  present  ceremonies  connected  with  the  hat 
imzivah  became  current,  but  there  is  every  reason  for  be- 
lieving that  between  the  tribal  ceremonies  and  those  of  the 
bar  mizwah  there  was  no  break,  only  continuous  develop- 
ment. In  the  absence  of  any  description  of  earlier  ado- 
lescent rites  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  describe  here  those  of 
the  bar  mizwah,  remembering,  however,  that  they  belong 
to  a  much  later  time. 
• '  By  bar  mizwah'^^   (tr.  "son  of  command")  is  meant  a 

:;  male  Jew  who  has  reached  the  age  (thirteen  years)  when 

"^   he  himself  is  responsible  for  fulfilHng  the  Law.    Some  time 

53  Matthew  xxiii.  5. 

5*  Emil  G.  Hirsch,  "Phylacteries,  Critical  View,"  Jewish  Encyc, 
X,  28c. 

55  K.  Kohler,  "Bar  Mizwah,"  Jewish  Encyc,  II,  509b. 

56  "vy  Rosenau,  Jewish  Ceremonial  Institutions  and  Customs,  Chap. 
X,  149-154,  contains  a  most  excellent  and  clear  account  of  present 
practice. 


EDUCATION    IN   THE   FAMILY   AFTER  THE   EXILE.  59 

before  his  thirteenth  birthday  the  boy  enters  upon  a  period  ' 
of   special  preparation  and  rehgious   instruction.     On  the 
Sabbath  following  his  birthday  he  goes  to  the 

Bar  Mizwah.  •    j   i        i  •      r    ^i  rr^i 

synagogue  accompanied  by  his  latner.  i  here 
in  the  presence  of  the  congregation  the  father  formally 
renounces  his  responsibility  for  his  son's  conduct  in  the  fol- 
lowing benediction: 

"Blessed  art  thou 
Who  hast  set  me  free  from  the  responsibility  of  this  child." 

The  boy  is  called  upon  to  read  portions  of  the  Scrip-  • 
tures.    He  may  also  lead  in  the  benedictions  and  may  even 
deliver  the  address  following  the  close  of  the  Scripture  les- 
sons.    A  family  festival  with  gifts  may  be  held  at  home 
after  the  conclusion  of  the  synagogue  service." 

Such  ceremonies  as  those  described  above  gave  to  each  ^ 
period  in  the  child's  life  a  distinctly  religious  significance. 
.      ,  ^.     Every  member  of  the  family  was  impressed 

Educational  Sig-  -^  ,.,,/,  i  tt-   i 

nificance  of  Pe-  with  th^  fact  that  the  child  belonged  to  Yah- 
riod  Rites.  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^^  the  parents  were  directly  re-" 

sponsible  to  Yahweh  for  insuring  to  the  child  his  religious 
education.  Family  pride,  public  opinion,  religious  beliefs 
and  observances  reinforced  this  sense  of  responsibility. 

PERIODS  m  SCHOOL  LIFE. 
Prior  to  the  rise  of  schools  festivals,  rites,  the  home 
and  such  religious  and  social  institutions  as  existed  at  any 
particular  period  were  the  means  through  which  recognition 
was  given  to  the  different  periods  in  child  life.  After  the 
rise  of  schools  the  transition  from  home  to  school  marked 
a  distinct  change  in  the  child's  environment  and  occupations. 
But  school  instruction  included  little  else  than  religion.  The 
following  outline  represents  approximately  the  educational 
periods  in  a  boy's  Hfe  after  the  rise  of  the  elementary 
schools. 

^"^  William  Rosenau,  Jewish  Ceremonial  Institutions  and  Customs 
X,  149-154.    The  practices  given  here  are  for  the  most  part  modern. 


60 


EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 


Outline  of  Jewish  Boys'  Education  After  the  Rise  of 
Elementary  Schools. 


Years     Periods 
I — 6      Infancy. 


Institutions      Teachers 


Family. 


Parents  and 
other  members 
of  the  family. 


6 — 12    Childhood.       Elementary     Hazzan 


12 —      Adolescence. 


School, 


Scribe's 
School.  5^ 


(Elementary 
teacher). 

Soferim 
(Scribes). 


Subjects  and 
Activities 

Shema  or  national 

creed. 

Bible  verses  and 

proverbs. 

Prayers,  hymns  and 

Bible  stories. 

Memorized  portions 
of  Old  Testament, 
especially  the 
Pentateuch. 

Advanced  religious 
and  theological 
literature,  written 
and  oral 


^^ 


WHAT  WAS  TAUGHT. 
Industrial  Education. 
The  industrial  occupations  which  had  arisen  during  the 
Native  Period  continued  after  the  Exile.^®  That  every  boy 
learned  some  handicraft  seems  evident  from  the  fact  that 
the  most  highly  educated  of  all  classes,  the  scribes  and 
rabbis,  supported  themselves  if  necessary  by  plying  a 
trade/'^  It  was  left  for  the  Talmud  to  direct  every  father, 
regardless  of  his  social  position,  to  teach  his  son  a  trade.^^ 

°^  Most  boys  finished  attending  school  at  twelve  or  thirteen  and 
took  up  their  trade  or  vocation.  Some  few  went  to  higher  schools 
to  prepare  to  become  scribes  and  rabbis. 

^»  See  Chapter  H,  What  Was  Taught,  paragraphs  on  Industrial 
and  Physical  Education." 

^°  The  Talmud  mentions  more  than  one  hundred  rabbis  who  were 
artisans.  For  a  list  of  trades  and  crafts  and  eminent  rabbis  plying 
them  see  F.  J.  Delitzsch,  Jewish  Artisan  Life  in  the  Time  of  Jesus, 
pp.  78-79;  also  J.  D.  Eisenstein,  article  on  "Rabbi,"  Jewish  Encyc, 
X,  294d-295a. 

^^  Babylonian  Talmud.  "Tract  Kiddushin,"  30b. 


EDUCATION   IN   THE   FAMILY   AFTER  THE   EXILE.  61 

But  here  as  in  many  other  instances  it  seems  probable  that 
the  Talmud  merely  formulated  as  law  what  had  been  com- 
mon practice  for  centuries,  perhaps  from  time  immemorial. 

In  absence  of  definite  information,  the  question  of  how  ^ 
the  boy  learned  his  trade  must  be  largely  a  matter  of  con- 
jecture. It  seems  reasonable  to  assume  that  in  most  cases 
he  followed  his  father's  occupation  and  acquired  his  earliest 
training  by  assisting  his  father  or  elder  brothers  in  shop  or 
market-place.  As  he  grew  older  he  would  assist  more  and 
more  until  at  length  he  would  enter  upon  a  regular  appren- 
ticeship. After  elementary  education  had  been  made  com-  "- 
pulsory,  the  major  part  of  this  training  would  necessarily 
be  postponed  until  the  boy  had  finished  his  studies  at  the 
elementary  school.  Then,  unless  he  continued  his  studies 
at  some  higher  professional  school  for  the  sake  of  prepar- 
ing to  become  a  scribe  or  rabbi,  he  would  take  up  serious 
preparation  for  some  commercial  or  industrial  occupation. ''- 

Music. 

The  important  place  occupied  by  religious  music  in  the 
temple  service*^^  could  scarcely  have  failed  to  make  it  a 
prominent  feature  of  the  religious  life  of  the  home.  Partly 
as  the  result  of  direct  instruction  but  largely  merely  by 
hearing  his  elders  chant  or  sing,  the  child  during  infancy 
would  begin  learning  the  religious  songs  of  his  race.  Later 
on  perhaps  he  would  be  taught  some  musical  instrument. 

Dancing. 

.  Dancing  which  had  occupied  a  prominent  place  in  early 
Hebrew  worship,  came  to  be  looked  upon  with  increasing 
disfavor  as  a  religious  act.     It  continued,  however,  as  a 

U/iT?u/^  ^^'^^  paragraph  should  be  compared  with  Chapter  II, 
KK  nat  i/Vas  Taught,  paragraphs  on  Industrial  and  Physical  Education. 

,  •  .^J9'^"-^°'""'^^'  ^^^^  Culture  of  Ancient  Israel,  pp.  125-132.  For 
15-21  ^^^^'■'P^'°"s  see  2  Chronicles  xxix.  26-30  and  Ecclesiasticus  i. 


62  EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT   ISRAEL. 

festive  activity  at  weddings  and  other  secular  festivities. 
^  There  is  nothing  to  show  that  it  found  any  place  in  the 
schools  which  apparently  devoted  all  their  energies  to  the 
study  of  the  sacred  writings.  Therefore  it  was  probably 
for  the  most  part  learned  at  home. 

Religion. 

No  sharp  distinction  can  be  made  in  post-Exilic  Jewish 
education  between  the  intellectual,  moral,  religious  and  civic 
Holiness  as  the  elements.  Practically  all  literature  studied  at 
^^^^^-  home  and  in  school  was  religious  literature, 

but  this  literature  contained  not  only  religious  teachings  but 
moral  teachings  and  laws.  The  most  important  task  of 
parents  was  to  teach  their  children  religion  and  for  many 
centuries  this  responsibility  rested  entirely  upon  the  home. 
Even  after  the  rise  of  the  elementary  schools  the  education 
of  girls  remained  almost  entirely  within  the  family  as  did 
also  that  of  boys  up  to  about  their  seventh  year.  The  re- 
ligious ideal  of  this  period  may  be  summed  up  in  the  word 
holiness.  Holiness  meant  "set  apart  unto  Yahweh,"  i.  e., 
consecrated.  Prior  to  the  prophets  the  term  had  been  devoid 
of  any  ethical  content,  but  through  their  teachings  it  came 
to  mean  set  apart,  through  purity  of  heart  and  of  conduct. 

The  religious  education  of  the  child  really  began  with 
the  rites  of  infancy  already  described  by  which  he  was 
Earliest  Reiig-  ^^^^^^^  ^s  belonging  to  a  race  set  apart  unto 
ious  Education—  Yahwch.  As  he  grew  older,  this  ideal  was 
gradually  built  up  within  his  consciousness  by 
^  the  words  and  actions  of  those  about  him.  Even  before 
the  child  could  speak  he  began  unconsciously  to  receive  les- 
sons in  reverence  and  love  of  the  Law.  Long  before  he 
could  understand  language  his  attention  was  attracted  by 
members  of  the  family  pausing  before  the  doorway,  touch- 
ing reverently  the  mezuzah,  a  small  shining  cylinder  of  wood 
or  metal,  kissing  the  hand  that  touched  it  and  then  passing 


^ 


EDUCATION   IN   THE   FAMILY  AFTER  THE   EXILE.  63 

on.®*  Later  on  he  would  learn  that  the  meznzah  was  placed 
upon  the  doorway  in  obedience  to  the  divine  command: 
"Thou  shalt  write  them  (the  laws)  upon  the  doorposts  of 
thy  house  and  upon  thy  gates. "®^  Within  the  cylinder  writ- 
ten on  a  small  piece  of  parchment  were  two  passages: 
Deuteronomy  vi.  4-9  and  xi.  13-20.  About  this  time  also 
the  child  must  have  begun  to  notice  the  phylacteries  and 
the  bright  twisted  threads  hanging  from  the  four  corners 
of  his  father's  simlah. 

As  soon  as  children  began  to  speak  their  parents  began  i/^ 
teaching  them  Bible  verses.     Possibly  in  the  childhood  of 
Religious  Jesus  or  even  earlier  it  was  already  the  custom 

Literature.  ^q  begin  this  teaching  with  the  first  verse  of 

the  Shema,®®  the  national  confession  of  faith:  "Hear,  O 
Israel,  Yahweh  is  our  God,  Yahweh  alone."®^  Other  verses 
from  the  Law,  the  Prophets,  the  Psalms  and  Proverbs  would  . 
be  learned  one  by  one.  Long  before  he  started  to  school 
the  boy  would  be  taught  the  never-to-be-forgotten  stories 
of  the  adventures,  calamities  and  glories  of  his  ancestors. 

There  was  scarcely  a  question  childish  lips  could  frame 
for  which  the  answer  was  not  waiting  in  the  sacred  writings. 
The  story  of  Adam  and  Eve®^  answered  the  child's  question, 
"Who  made  me  and  what  am  I  made  of?";  "Why  don't  all 
people  speak  the  same  language?"  was  answered  by  the  story 
of  the  Tower  of  Babel.®^  And  when  he  asked  who  made 
the  sea  and  the  stars  his  father  recited  the  majestic  poem 
of  creation :  "In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and 
the  earth. "^'^    No  matter  what  the  question,  in  its  last  anal- 

«*  "The  antiquity  of  the  mezuzah  is  attested  by  Josephus  (c.  37-100 
A.  D.)  who  speaks  of  its  employment  {Ant.,  IV,  p.  8,  sec.  13)  as  an 
old  and  well-established  custom."  J.  M.  Casanowicz,  "Mezuzah," 
Jewish  Encyclopedia,  VIII,  532a. 

^^  Deuteronomy  vi,  9. 

««  Though  the  definite  provision  belongs  to  the  Talmudic  period  it 
is  possible  the  custom  was  much  older.  Babylonian  Talmud,  "Suc- 
cah,"  42a. 

6"  Deuteronomy  vi.  4.  es  Genesis  ii.  7ff. 

69  Ibid.,  xi.  1-9.  70  /^f^    i  i_ii  ^ 


64  EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

I  ysis  and  in  its  final  effect  upon  the  child  the  answer  was 
always,  "God."  It  was  God  who  formed  man  out  of  the 
dust  of  the  earth, — it  was  God  who  confused  the  tongues 
of  men, — it  was  God  who  divided  the  waters  from  the  land 
and  placed  the  sun,  moon  and  stars  in  the  sky, — it  was  God 
who  wrote  the  laws  with  his  finger  upon  the  tables  of  stone, 
and  who  had  laid  down  the  hundred  regulations  governing 
every  day  and  hour.  In  this  atmosphere,  pervaded  by  a 
/  continuous  sense  of  the  reality,  holiness,  purity  and  domin-^ 
ion  of  Yahweh  the  religious  consciousness  of  the  child  was 
awakened,  stimulated  and  nurtured. 

In  the  home,  as  in  the  temple  and  in  the  synagogue  ^ 
prayer  was  a  conspicuous  and  important  channel  of  re- 
ligious expression.  The  life  of  every  mem- 
ber of  the  family  was  a  life  of  prayer.  Before 
and  after  meals  a  prayer  of  thanksgiving  was  offered.*^^ 
Besides  this,  prayers  were  offered  three  times  each  day, 
morning,  afternoon  and  evening.'^^  One  of  the  first  things  ^ 
taught  to  children  was  to  pray.''^ 

Two  different  classes  of  festivals  were  observed  in  the 
home:^*  (1)  festivals  celebrating  some  event  of  family  life, 
Festivals  in  the  such  as  the  infancy  festivals  already  described ; 
Home.  (^2)    festivals  celebrating  some  historical,  re- 

ligious or  social  event  of  national  importance  such  as  the 
Passover  and  the  Feast  of  the  Tabernacles.  Some  festivals 
such  as  the  Sabbath,"  originally  seasons  of  rest,  gradually 
became  days  of  religious  observance,  study  of  the  Law  and 

71  Inference  based  upon  such  passages  as  Matthew  xv.  Zd  and  Acts 
xxvii.  35. 

72  Inference  based  upon  such  passages  as  Psalm  Iv.  17  and  Daniel 
vi.  10. 

73  By  Talmudic  law  the  child  was  "to  be  enforced  by  the  father  to 
say  the  benediction  after  each  meal  and  to  invoke  a  blessing  before 
tasting  any  kind  of  fruit."  N.  H.  Imber,  Education  and  the  Talmud, 
Report  of  the  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  1894-95,  II,  1814d. 

7*  Cf.  Chapter  V,  The  Synagogue,  paragraph  on  Order  of  Service. 

78  T.  G.  Soares,  The  Social  Institutions  and  Ideals  of  the  Bible, 
pp.  168-170. 


EDUCATION   IN   THE   FAMILY  AFTER  THE   EXILE.  65 

training  in  ritual  and  religious  customs.'^®  Every  religious 
festival  offered  parents  an  opportunity  for  giving  impres- 
sive religious  instruction.  Many  festivals  were  definitely 
set  aside  as  seasons  for  instruction  in  national  history  and 
religion  (Nehemiah  viii.  18).  Within  the  home  the  parents 
in  obedience  to  divine  command  explained  to  the  chil- 
dren the  origin  of  the  festival  and  the  meaning  of  each 
symbolic  act.  How  far  this  tendency  to  make  religious  in- 
struction an  element  of  every  festival  was  carried  is  well 
illustrated  by  Purim,  the  carnival  of  the  Jewish  year.  Purim 
was  originally  merely  a  festival  of  merriment  and  is  to  this 
day  marked  chiefly  by  unbridled  jollity.  In  time,  however, 
the  custom  arose  (which  finally  became  a  universal  obliga- 
tory part  of  the  day's  observance)  of  reading  or  hearing  the 
story  of  the  book  of  Esther. 

The  Passover  celebrated  in  the  evening  of  the  fourteenth 
day  of  the  month  Abib,  or  Nisan,  was  followed  immediately 
The  Passover  ^y  ^^^^  sevcn  days'  Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread 
and  Feast  of  Un-  which  began  on  the  fifteenth  and  continued 
leavened  Bread,  ^hj-ough  the  twcnty-fifst.  During  all  this  time 
only  unleavened  bread  was  eaten.  In  every  household  on 
Passover  eve  a  lamb,  a  year  old,  or  a  kid,  free  from  all 
blemish,  was  roasted  whole  and  eaten  with  bitter  herbs. 
The  manner  in  which  the  feast  was  celebrated  aimed  to 
recall  vividly  and  dramatically  the  situation  to  which  its 
origin  was  traced,  namely  the  flight  from  Egypt:  for  the 
Law  directed  that  those^  partaking  of  the  feast  should  eat 
it  in  haste,  standing  and  dressed  ready  to  march,  their  loins 
girded,  their  shoes  on  their  feet  and  staff  in  hand.'^^  Perhaps 
no  festival  illustrates  better  than  the  Feast  of  the  Passover 
the  manner  in  which  festivals  were  used  as  occasions  for 
religious  instruction  and  training. 

"At  a  certain  part  of  the  service  it  was  expressly  or- 
dained that  the  youngest  at  the  paschal  table  should  rise 
and  formally  ask  what  was  the  meaning  of  all  this  service 

"'^Ihid.,  pp.  170-171.  77  Exodus  xii.  11. 


66  EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

and  how  that  night  was  distinguished  from  others:  to  which 
the  father  was  to  reply,  by  relating,  in  language  suited  to 
the  child's  capacity,  the  whole  national  history  of  Israel 
from  the  calling  of  Abraham  down  to  the  deliverance  from 
Egypt  and  the  giving  of  the  Law,"^® 

Morals. 
Through  the  prophets  Yahweh  had  been  revealed  as  a 
God  of  righteousness  whose  first  demand  of  his  worshipers 
was   pure,  hearts   and  upright  lives.     Direct 

Religious    Basis.    .__   ,  ,  r    xt       '  *^    ~ 

from  Yahweh  of  Hosts  came  the  command 
to  truthfulness,  mercy,  honesty  and  purity.  The  moral 
responsibility  of  the  individual  was  not  merely  to  his  fam- 
ily and  the  community  but  to  Yahweh.  Consequently  there 
could  be  no  separation  between  morality  and  religion.  It 
was  impossible  to  be  religious  unless  one  were  first  righteous. 

In  the  Native  Period  moral  education  like  every  other 
type  of  education  had  been  received  almost  entirely  through 
training/^  Such  training  in  no  sense  ceased  after  the  Exile ; 
nevertheless,  the  Jews  became  ever  increasingly  a  people  of 
the  book,  and  written  literature  became  more  and  more  im- 
portant as  a  channel  of  education  in  morals  and  manners 
as  well  as  in  religion. 

No  people  has  ever  produced  a  body  of  literature  so  rich 
in  moral  teachings  or  so  wide  and  so  varied  in  its  possible 
application.  In  the  earlier  writings  and  in  those  passages 
in  the  later  ones  designed  for  children,  moral  precepts  are 
stated  dogmatically.  But  in  many  portions  of  the  later  writ- 
ings dogmatic  precepts  give  way  to  principles.  Consequently 
the  Old  Testament  is  equally  well  adapted  for  the  primitive 
Virtues  Empha-  and  the  highly  developed  mind,  for  the  moral 
sized.  Obedience  instruction  of  the  child  and  the  meditation  of 
the  philosopher.  Absolute  obedience  to  parents  was  re- 
garded as  the  cardinal  virtue  of  childhood  and  was  pre- 

'8  A.  Edersheim,  In  the  Days  of  Christ,  p.  110;  cf.  Exodus  xil 
26-27  and  Exodus  xiii.  8. 

^^  See  Chapter  II,  paragraph  on  Morals. 


EDUCATION    IN   THE   FAMILY  AFTER  THE   EXILE. 


67 


sented  as  such  in  the  earliest  as  well  as  in  the  latest  writ- 
ings : 

"Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother  that  thy  days  may  be  long 
In  the  land  which  Yahweh  thy  God  giveth  thee/'^o 

"He  that  feareth  the  Lord  will  honor  his  father 
And  will  do  service  unto  his  parents,  as  to  his  masters/'^i 

"Honor  thy  father  with  thy  whole  heart 
And  forget  not  the  sorrows  of  thy  mother, 
Remember  thou  wast  begotten  of  them : 
And  how  canst  thou  recompense  them 
The  things  they  have  done  for  thee?"^- 

Children  are  specifically  enjoined  to  respect  the  old  age 
of  their  parents : 

"My  son,  help  thy  father  in  his  age 
And  grieve  him  not  as  long  as  he  liveth.''^^ 

"Hearken  unto  thy  father  in  his  age 
And  despise  not  thy  mother  when  she  is  old."^* 

The  remaining  moral  virtues  taught  to  the  Jewish  chil- 
dren were  those  which  are  known  and  honored  to-day 
throughout  Christendom.  They  were  presented  in  part 
through  proverbs,  moral  precepts,  psalms  and  prayers,  in 
part  through  biographies  and  historical  narratives,  in  part 
through  the  symbolic  rites,  customs  and  festivals  already 
described.  It  must  suffice  here  to  name  briefly  the  more  im- 
portant of  these  virtues,  bearing  in  mind  that  they  "were 
taught  line  upon  liiie,  precept  upon  precept,"  in  season  and 
out  of  season. 


1.  Obedience 

2.  Reverence 

3.  Brotherly  love 

4.  Charity 

5.  Compassion 

6.  Hospitality 

7.  Temperance 

^^  Exodus  XX.  12. 
82  Ibid.,  vii.  27-28. 


8.  Chastity 

9.  Truthfulness 

10.  Industry 

11.  Thrift 

12.  Prudence 

13.  Patriotism 


14.  Patience 

15.  Meekness 

16.  Loyalty 

17.  Diligence 

18.  Perseverance 

19.  Mercy 

^1  Ecclesiasticus  iii.  7. 
»^Ibid.,  iii.  12.  \ 


8*  Proverbs  xxiii.  22;  Ecclesiasticus  iii.  1-16  is  of  marked  interest. 


68  EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

Manners. 
Manners  were  regarded  as  matters  of  religion  and  moral- 
ity.   This  is  well  brought  out  in  the  command  to  the  young 
to  rise  in  the  presence  of  the  aged:  "Thou 
e  igious    asis.  gj^^|^  ^.-^^  ^p  before  the  hoary  head,  and  honor 

the  face  of  the  old  man,  and  thou  shalt  fear  thy  God :  I  am 
Yahweh."*'^  Here  we  have  a  command  to  perform  an 
ordinary  act  of  politeness  made  correlative  with  fearing 
God  and  followed  by  the  most  authoritative  and  binding  oi 
all  divine  utterances,  "I  am  Yahweh." 

No  description  of  any  system  of  training  in  manners 
employed  by  the  ancient  Hebrews  is  available.  However, 
the  patriarchal  organization  of  the  home,  the  implicit  obe- 
dience exacted  of  children,  the  respect  required  of  them 
for  all  their  elders,  the  emphasis  placed  by  the  Hebrews 
upon  form  in  every  aspect  of  life  are  sufficient  reasons  for 
believing  that  training  in  manners  constituted  a  most  im- 
portant part  of  the  education  of  children.  The  soundness 
of  this  inference  is  amply  supported  by  many  lessons  in 
politeness  contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Sorhe  of  these 
lessons  are  given  in  the  form  of  narratives  which  relate  in 
detail  the  conduct  of  some  great  national  character.  Gen- 
esis xviii  gives,  under  the  guise  of  the  story  of  Abraham 
entertaining  angels  unawares,  a  beautiful  lesson  in  hospital- 
ity and  detailed  instructions  as  to  the  proper  manner  of  treat- 
ing guests.  Genesis  xix  gives  a  similar  lesson  in  connection 
with  the  story  of  Lot.^^  Elsewhere  lessons  in  courtesy  are 
given  in  the  form  of  precepts  and  admonitions  relating  to 
the  treatment  of  strangers,  the  aged,  topics  of  conversation 
and  conduct  in  general  or  upon  particular  occasions.  These 
lessons  vary  in  length  from  terse  proverbs  to  comparatively 
long  passages  such  as  that  on  table  manners  in  Ecclesiasticus.^^ 

^^  Leviticus  xix.  32. 

^®  For  a  summary  of  Abraham's  acts  (5f  courtesy  see  below,  para- 
graph on  Hospitahty. 

'**'  See  below,  special  paragraph. 


EDUCATION    IN   THE   FAMILY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.  69 

Breeding  expresses  itself  outwardly  and  concretely  in 
acts,  but  the  essence  of  good  breeding  is  the  spirit  which 
Sim  licity  prompts  and  pervades  the  acts.     Simplicity, 

Meekness  and  meekucss,  humility,  gentleness  and  kindness, 
Humility.  ^^^  earmarks  of  good  breeding,  and  the  foun- 

dations of  all  genuine  courtesy  are  repeatedly  presented  as 
qualities  which  bring  divine  favor,  care  and  reward.  "Yah- 
weh  preserveth  the  simple."*®  "The  meek  shall  inherit  the 
land;"«»  "He  will  adorn  the  meek  with  salvation ;"»«  "I 
(Yahweh)  dwell  in  the  high  and  holy  place,  with  him  also 
that  is  of  a  contrite  and  humble  spirit,  to  revive  the  spirit 
of  the  humble  and  to  revive  the  heart  of  the  contrite;"®^ 
"Now  the  man  Moses  was  very  meek,  above  all  the  men 
who  were  upon  the  face  of  the  earth."®^ 

Boasting,  ostenjtatipn  and  conceit,  the  most  patent  evi- 
dences of  vulgarity,  are  condemned  in  narrative  and  in  pre- 
cept: "Let  another  man  praise  thee,  and  not  thine  own 
mouth:  a  stranger  and  not  thine  own  lips;"®^  "Let  not  the 
wise  man  glory  in  his  wisdom,  neither  let  the  mighty  glory 
in  his  might,  let  not  the  rich  glory  in  his  riches  ;"®*  "Be  not 
wise  in  thine  own  eyes;  fear  Yahweh,  and  depart  from 
evil  ;''^^  "The  way  of  the  foolish  is  right  in  his  own  eyes,  but 
he  that  is  wise  hearkeneth  unto  counsel."®* 

Whispering  and  whisperers  are  to  be  shunned :  "A  whis-\ 
perer  separateth  chief  friends."®^  Loquacity  is  condemned 
Conversation,  andjrgserve  in  uttgrance  commended :  "In  the 
Whispering.  multitude  of  words  there  wanteth  not  trans- 
gression, but  he  that  ref raineth  his  lips  doth  wisely  ;"**  "A 
fool's  vexation  is  presently  known :  but  a  prudent  man  con- 
cealeth  shame  i"**®  "A  fool  uttereth  all  his  anger  but  a  wise 

88  Psalm  cxvi.  6.  89  Psalm  xxxvii.  11. 

»o  Psalm  cxlix.  4.  si  Isaiah  Ivii.  15. 

»2  Numbers  xii.  3.  93  Proverbs  xxvii.  2. 

9*  Jeremiah  ix.  23.  .  »5  Proverbs  iii.  7. 

»«  Proverbs  xii.  15.  »7  Proverbs  xvi.  28. 

»8  Proverbs  x.  19.  »»  Proverbs  xii.  16. 


70  EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

man  keepeth  it  back  and  stilleth  it  ;'*^^<>  "Death  and  life  are 
in  the  power  of  the  tongue ;  and  they  that  love  it  shall  eat 
the  fruit  thereof."^^^ 

Stinging  and  bitter  retorts  are  to  be  avoided:  "A  soft 
answer  turneth  away  wrath :  but  a  grievous  word  stirreth  up 
anger ;"^®^  "The  north  wind  bringeth  forth  rain:  so  doth 
Topics  of  a  backbiting  tongue  an  angry  countenance."^**^ 

Cqnversation.  Nothing  more  readily  betrays  breeding  than 
the  character  of  conversation.  The  book  of  Proverbs  con- 
tains numerous  exhortations  to  proper  conversation  and 
denunciations  of  rash  or  perverse  speech. 

"A  wholesome  tongue  is  a  tree  of  life : 
But  perverseness  therdn  is  a  breaking  of  the  spirit."io4 

"A  word  fitly  spoken 
Is  like  apples  of  gold  in  network  of  silver."^®* 

"He  that  giveth  answer  before  he  heareth. 
It  is  folly  and  shame  unto  him."i<*« 

Wisdom,  righteousness  and  the  laws  of  Yahweh  are  to 
be  made  the  constant  topics  of  conversation: 

"And  (thou)  shalt  talk  of  them,  (the  laws  and  words  of 
Yahweh),  when  thou  sittest  in  thy  house."^^'^  "And  ye  shall 
teach  them  your  children,  talking  of  them  when  thou  sittest 
in  thy  house,  and  when  thou  walkest  by  the  way,  and  when 
thou  liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest  up."^°^ 

"And  my  tongue  shall  talk  of  Thy  righteousness, 
And  of  Thy  praise  all  the  day  long/'i^^ 

"The  mouth  of  the  righteous  talketh  of  wisdom, 
And  his  tongue  speaketh  judgment."ii<^ 

The  inseparability  of  religion,  morals  and  manners  has 
been  dwelt  upon  sufficiently  to  make  it  unnecessary  to  point 

100  Proverbs  xxix.  11.  loi  Proverbs  xviii.  21. 

102  Proverbs  xv.  1.  io3  Proverbs  xxv.  23. 

104  Proverbs  xv.  4.  io5  Proverbs  xxv.  11. 

106  Proverbs  xviii.  13.  io7  Deuteronomy  vi.  7. 

108  Deuteronomy  xi.  19.  loo  Psalm  xxxv.  28. 
110  Psalm  xxxvii.  30. 


EDUCATION   IN   THE  FAMILY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.  71 

out  that  the  fact  that  the  passages  just  quoted  bear  primar- 
ily upon  religious  instruction,  does  not  to  the  slightest  degree 
exclude  them  from  the  field  of  manners. 

If  tact  is  the  test  of  a  thoroughbred,  curiosity  is  equally ' 
the  betrayer  of  the  illbred.  Curiosity  is  linked  in  the  Scrip- 
tures with  irreverence  and  disobedience.  It 
was  inevitable  that  the  Hebrews  should  apply 
to  commonplace  experiences  and  situations  the  frightful 
warnings  contained  in  the  story  of  Lot's  wife,^^^  and  in  the 
story  of  the  fifty  thousand  and  seventy  men  of  Beth-shemesh 
destroyed  because  they  looked  into  the  ark  of  Yahweh.^^^ 

Among  the  most  important  occasions  for  display  of 
breeding  are  the  times  when  one  sits  down  to  eat.  Gluttony 
Table  Manners-  is  branded  as  a  disgrace  to  one's  own  self  and 
Gluttony.  ^  shaming  of  one's  parents:  "He  that  is  a 

companion  of  gluttonous  men  shameth  his  father,"^^^  The 
principles,  precepts  and  moral  qualities  presented  and  ex- 
tolled in  the  Scriptures  if  applied  to  conduct  at  the  table 
would  have  made  any  specific  direction  unnecessary.  Never- 
theless Ben  Sira,  like  the  authors  of  chivalric  courtesy  books, 
felt  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  give  specific  rules  of  table 
conduct  which  he  did  in  the  following  interesting  and,  to 
the  modern  mind,  curious  passage: 

"Eat,  as  it  becometh  a  man,  those  things  which  are  set 
before  thee ;  and  devour  not  lest  thou  be  hated.  Leave  off 
Ecciesiasticus  ^^^^  ^^^  manners'  sake ;  and  be  not  unsatiable 
on  Table  Man-  lest'  thou  offcud.  When  thou  sittest  among 
^^"'  many,  reach  not  thine  hand  out  first  of  all. 

A  very  little  is  sufficient  for  a  man  well  nurtured.  Sound 
sleep  cometh  of  moderate  eating:  he  riseth  and  his  wits  are 
with  him."ii* 

However  important  may  be  the  command,  "Thou  shalt 
not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbor,"  it  represents 
merely  the  beginning  of  Hebrew  custom  with  respect  to  the 

111  Genesis  xix.  26.  "2  1  Samuel  vi.  19. 

113  Proverbs  xxviii.  7.  n*  Ecciesiasticus  xxxi.  16-21. 


72  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

treatment  of  neighbors.  In  the  Levitical  code,  as  well  as  in 
the  teachings  of  Jesus^^*^  stranger  and  neighbor  are  to  be 
treated  with  the  same  love  that  one  bears 
toward  his  own  flesh  and  blood :  "Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."^^*  Neighbors  are  to  be  treated 
with  generosity  when  they  come  seeking  to  borrow:  "Say 
not  unto  thy  neighbor,  'Go  and  come  again,  and  to-morrow 
I  will  g^ve,'  when  thou  hast  it  by  thee.""^ 

Hospitality  is  a  religious  obligation  and  brings  divine 
rewards.  Many  details  of  a  host's  conduct  are  clearly  and 
beautifully  set  forth  in  the  two  stories  already 
referred  to,  of  how  Abraham"®  and  Lot^^* 
entertained  angels  unawares.  Abraham,  sitting  in  his  tent, 
beholds  three  men.  He  runs  forth  to  meet  them.  He  bows 
himself  to  the  earth  and  then  entreats  them  in  terms  of 
unsurpassable  courtesy  to  be  his  guests.  He  orders  water 
fetched  that  their  feet  may  be  washed.  His  wife  Sarah 
makes  fresh  bread  and  a  feast  is  prepared.  When  they 
depart,  as  a  last  act  of  hospitality,  Abraham  goes  with  them 
"to  bring  them  on  their  way."  The  acts  of  hospitality  per- 
formed by  Lot  as  host  are  almost  identical  with  those  per- 
formed by  Abraham.  Abraham  is  rewarded  by  a  promise 
of  a  son;  Lot,  by  being  saved  from  the  destruction  that 
overtakes  the  other  inhabitants  of  Sodom. 

"6  Luke  X.  29-37.  ii«  Leviticus  xix.  18. 

iiT  Proverbs  iii.  28.  y  "s  Genesis  xviii.  3-1& 

^^*  Genesis  xix. 


CHAPTER  V. 

EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY 
AFTER  THE  EXILE. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY 
AFTER  THE  EXILE. 

"Wisdom  is  the  principal  thing;  therefore 
get  wisdom." — Proverbs  iv.  7. 

"The  fear  of  Jehovah  is  the  beginning  of 
wisdom,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  Holy  One 
is  understanding." — Proverbs  ix.  10. 

"The  law  of  Jehovah  is  perfect.  ...The 
precepts  of  Jehovah  are  right The  judg- 
ments of  Jehovah  are  true. . .  .More  to  be  de- 
sired are  they  than  gold,  yea  tKan  much  fine 
gold."— Psalm  xix.  7-10  (Extracts). 

"There  is  no  love  such  as  the  love  of  the 
Torah.  The  words  of  the  Torah  are  as  dif- 
ficult to  acquire  as  silken  garments,^  and  are 
lost  as  easily  as  linen  ones." — Babylonian 
Talmud,  "Tract  Aboth  of  Rabbi  Nathan," 
XXVIII,  beginning.  (In  Rodkinson's  trans- 
lation, p.  97.) 

Summary  of  Chapter. 

As  the  earlier  hope  of  ever  becoming  a  great  political  power 
waned,  a  new  hope  arose,  that  of  preserving  the  nation  through  pre- 
serving its  religion.  There  was  only  one  way  of  doing  this,  by  edu- 
cation. 

The  Priestly  code  had  given  to  the  priests  the  supreme  political  as  -y 
well  as  the  supreme  religious  authority.  Their  devotion  to  political 
and  administrative  duties  and  to  the  elaborate  system  of  worship 
organized  in  connection  with  the  second  temple  led  them  to  resign 
gradually  most  of  their  one-time  teaching  functions  to  a  newly  arisen 
lay  order  of  teachers,  the  scribes.  The  temple  and  the  priests  never 
ceased  to  be  important  factors  in  the  educational  situation,  but  a  new 
institution,  the  synagngjje,  became  the  people's  prayer-house,  assem-. 
bly-hall  and  house  of  instruction. 

Although  the  family  always  remained,  as  it  had  been  in  the  pre- 
Exilic  Period,  the . -fundamental  educational-  institution,  and  the  parents  V- 


Id  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

continued  to  be  the  child's  first  teachers,  nevertheless  there  gradually 
arose,  in  connection  with  the  s)magOgues,  elementary  schools  which 
relieved  the  home  of  much  of  its  educational  burden.  Finally,  as  the 
result  of  the  reforms  of  two  famous  educators,  Simon  ben  Shetach 
(c.  65  B.C.)  and  Toshua  ben  Gamala  (c.  64  A. D.),  ejementary^du- 
1^'^cation  became  both  universal  and  compulsory.  In  addition  to  the  ele- 
mentary schools  higher  schools  were  established  for  the  sake  of  offer- 
ing opportunities  for  advanced  study  of  the  Law. 

The  schools  made  no  provision  for  girls  and  women.  Their  edu- 
cation always  remained  thoroughly  domestic  and  was  received  almost 
entirely  at  home. 

EDUCATIONAL   CHARACTERISTICS    AND   TENDENCIES. 

Warned  by  the  oblivion  which  had  overtaken  the  tribes 
of  the  northern  kingdom,  the  religious  leaders  of  subject 
Zeal  for  Educa-  Judah  set  about  to  save  the  people  of  the  little 
**®"-  kingdom  from  a  similar  fate.     As  the  one- 

time hope  of  national  and  political  independence  and  great- 
ness waned  a  new  hope  arose,  that  of  preserving  the  nation  ^^ 
through  preserving  its  religion.    There  was  only  one  way^ 
of  achieving  this  end,  that  was  by  universal  education.  Zeal , 
for  education  was  further  fostered  by  three  important  be-^ 
lief s :   ( 1 )  the  belief  that  national  calamities  were  punish-  _,. 
ments  visited  upon  the  people  because  they  had  not  been 
faithful  to  Yahweh  and  his  laws  ;^   (2)   that  if  Yahweh's 
laws  were  kept,  national  prosperity  would  return;  (3)  the  J 
belief  that  the  divinely  appointed  mission  of  Judah  was  to 
make  known  to  the  other  nations  of  the  world  Yahweh,  the 
only  true  God.    Educational  zeal  resulted  in  an  ever-increas- 
ing tendency  to  organize  and  institutionalize  education.     In 
this  process  of  organization  and  institutionalization,  each  of 
the  following  five  movements  played  an  important  part :  ( 1 ) 
the  development  of  a  complete  code  of  laws  (the  Priestly 
code)  governing  every  phase  of  life;  (2)  the  state  adoption 
of  the  Priestly  code,  which  made  its  observance  binding 
upon  every  member  of  the  Jewish  state  and  consequently  a 

*This  is  the  underlying  philosophy  of  the  Book  of  Judges.  See 
Judges  iv.  1  and  2;  vi.  1  and  elsewhere. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.     17 

knowledge  of  it  necessary;  (3)   a  vast  growth  of  sacred  -^ 
literature,  both  oral  and  written,  including  works  specially 
written  as  textbooks,  such  as  Proverbs  and  Ecclesiasticus ; 

(4)  the  organization  of  the  scribes  into  a  teaching  guild  ;^^ 

(5)  the  rise  of  schools,  elementary  and  advanced.  .;^__ 
The  passages  quoted  at  the  opening  of  the  present  chap- 
ter bear  witness  to  the  supreme  importance  attached  to  the 

Torah,  the  Law  of  Yahweh,  in  the  centuries 
and  Morals  in  following  the  Babylonian  Exile.  This  position 
Post-Exilic  Life  of   supremacy   had   been   attained   gradually. 

and  Education.      ^       .  ,.  .     ,        r  tt  i  ^' e  i*    • 

In  the  earliest  periods  of  Hebrew  life,  religion 
was  but  one,  albeit  a  most  important  one,  of  many  interests 
in  life  and  education.     Gradually,  however,  the  vision  of 
Yahweh,  his  power  and  his  kingdom  enlarged.     He  came 
to  be  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  state  and  of  all  its 
institutions,  civic  and  political  as  well  as  religious.    He  was 
accepted  as  the  author  of  all  its  laws  whether  criminal, 
moral  or  religious,  and  of  all  institutions.     The  Law,  in\^ 
other   words   religion,   and   with   it   morality,   became   the  ] 
supreme  interest,  the  chief  study  and  the  all-determining  I 
force  in  public  and  in  private  life  at  home  and  in  school,  jf'' 
It  is  doubtful  whether  history  contains  a  more  tragic  illus- 
tration of  devotion  to  an  ideal  than  the  story  of  Simon  ben 
Shetach's  son.     Certainly  no  other  incident  reveals  as  for- 
cibly the  supreme  place  accorded  to  the  Law  in  the  hearts 
of  the  devout  Jews.    The  story  is  related  by  Graetz  in  the 
following  words : 

"On  account  of  his  unsparing  severity,  Simon  ben  She- 
tach  brought  upon  himself  such  hatred  of  his  opponents 
that  they  determined  upon  a  fearful  revenge.  They  incited 
two  false  witnesses  to  accuse  his  son  of  a  crime  punishable 
with  death,  in  consequence  of  which  he  was  actually  con- 
demned to  die.  On  his  way  to  the  place  of  execution  the 
young  man  uttered  such  vehement  protestations  of  inno- 
cence that  at  last  the  witnesses  themselves  were  affected 
and  confessed  to  their  tissue  of  falsehoods.    But  when  the 


78  EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

judges  were  about  to  set  free  the  condemned,  the  prisoner 
himself  drew  their  attention  to  their  violation  of  the  Law, 
which  enjoined  that  no  belief  was  to  be  given  witnesses 
who  withdrew  their  previous  testimony.  'If  you  wish,'  said 
the  condemned  youth  to  his  father,  'that  the  salvation  of 
Israel  should  be  wrought  by  your  hand,  consider  me  but 
the  threshold  over  which  you  must  pass  without  compunc- 
tion.' Both  father  and  son  showed  themselves  worthy  of 
their  sublime  task,  that  of  guarding  the  integrity  of  the 
Law ;  for  to  uphold  it  one  sacrificed  his  life,  and  the  other 
his  paternal  love.  Simon,  the  Judean  Brutus,  let  the  law 
pursue  its  course,  although  he,  as  well  as  the  judges,  were 
convinced  of  his  son's  innocence."^ 

1.       In  the  educational  ideal  of  the  Native  Period,  the  phys- 

I  ical,  the  esthetic  and  the  industrial,  aspects  of  personality 

The  Scribe  as     ^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  intellectual,  moral  and  religious 

the  Post-Exilic    were  recognized.    The  educational  ideal  of  the 

^^**^*  post-Exilic  Period  was  the  scribe,'  the  man 

^arned  in  and  obedient  to  the  Law.  Such  obedience  im- 
plied complete  consecration  to  Yahweh  and  a  consequent 
separation  from  all  duties  and  activities  not  related  to  Him. 
The  vast  development  of  the  Law  during  the  Exile,  the 
multitude  of  legal  interpretations  and  precedents  made 
leisure  a  prerequisite  for  all  who  would  become  learned 
and  left  the  student  of  the  Law  little  time  for  attention  to 
anything  else.*  Despite  the  fact  that  the  great  cultural 
heritage  of  Greece  and  of  Hellehized  Rome  was  at  their 
veQc^jdoprs,  the  faithful  Jews  not  only  remained  indifferent 

rto  the  physical,  esthetic  and  intellectual  interests  of  their 

Vpagan  conquerors  but  studiously  excluded  them  from  their 

2  H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jews,  II,  54c-55a. 

8  A  further  discussion  of  the  educational  ideal  is  given  below, 
paragraph  on  the  Ideal  Scribe ;  see  also  below,  note  15. 

*  Cf.  with  these  statements  those  relating  to  the  scribes*  attitude 
toward  manual  work  in  Schools  of  the  Soferim,  paragraph  on  Sup- 
port, and  note  15.  An  interesting  suggestion  of  a  broader  attitude  in 
the  Rabbinical  comment  to  Genesis  ix.  27,  in  which  ("Tractate  Me- 
gillah,"  9b)  the  esthetic  element  in  Greek  culture  is  praised. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.     79 

schools  and  from  their  ambitions.  Narrow  as  this  may 
seem,  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  other  course  would  have! 
saved  the  Jews  from  paganism,  amalgamation  and  oblivion.] 
Had  the  native  interests  of  the  Hebrews  which  charac- 
terized the  pre-Exilic  Period  been  allowed  free  development 
Ph  sicai  Educa-  ^*  ^^  possible  that  physical  education  among 
tion— Greek  In-  the  Hebrcws  might  have  had  an  entirely  dif- 
fluence.  'fercut  history.    The  solemn  duty  resting  upon 

every  Jew  of  mastering  an  ever-increasing  body  of  sacred 
literature  left  little  time  for  anything  else.  To  be  sure,  the 
high  priest  Jason  who  had  purchased  his  office^  from  An- 
tiochus  IV,  Epiphanes  (r.  175-164  B.C.),«  built  a  Greek 
gymnasium  in  Jerusalem  under  the  very  tower."^  Moreover 
"many  of  the  priests  took  their  place  in  the  arena,"^  and 
"the  high  priest  even  sent  three  hundred  drachmas  to  Tyre 
for  a  sacrifice  to  Hercules."*  Nevertheless  the  faithful 
Jews  looked  upon  the  Greek  physical  sports  with  abhor- 
rence,^ and  the  establishment  of  Greek  gymnasia,  far  from 
introducing  physical  training  into  Jewish  education,  led  to 
an  identification  of  physical  education  with  paganism  and  to 
a  consequent  hostility  to  it.^° 

WHO  WAS  TAUGHT. 

Throughout  the  period  of  foreign  influence,  education | 
remained  for  the  most  part  a  masculine  privilege.  With  the 
exception  of  the  synagogue,  of  the  temple  and  of  certain 
festivals,  the  home  was  the  sole  institution  providing  train- 
ing and  instruction  for  girls  and  women.  All  schools  were 
boys'  schools  and  all  teachers  were  men. 

"^  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History,  p.  443. 

« I.  J.  Peritz,  Old  Testament  History,  p.  293. 

^  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History,  p.  443  and  footnote. 

8  See  2  Maccabees  iv.  9-12;  cf.  1  Maccabees  i.  13-14. 

» I.  J.  Peritz,  Old  Testament  History,  p.  294. 

10  H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jews,  I,  444-446,  gives  much  inter- 
esting material. 


EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 


TEACHERS. 
Decline  of  Priests  and  Prophets  as  Teachers. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  growth  of  the 
political  importance  of  the  priests  following  the  restoration 
of  Jerusalem  after  the  return  from  captivity.     More  and 
more  their  numbers,  wealth  and  power  increased.     It  was 
no  longer  possible  for  all  the  members  of  this  vast  army  to 
be  actively  engaged  all  the  time  in  rites  and  ceremonials. 
Consequently  they  were  organized  into  twenty-four  courses 
or  families.    The  courses  rotated,  each  course  serving  one 
week  in  turn  and  beginning  its  duties  by  offering  the  Sab- 
bath evening  sacrifice.     The  existence  of  a  vast  Priestly 
(Lode  setting  forth  in  detail  regulations  governing  every  phase 
I  bf  conduct  did  away  with  the  need  of  the  type  of  instruction 
Ngpven  by  the  priests  and  prophets  in  earlier  times.     This 
t  function  could  now  be  entrusted  to  lay  teachers  whose  task 
tfwould  be  transmitting  and  interpreting  the  already  existing 
'laws.    This  fact  combined  with  the  increase  in  the  number, 
complexity  and  elaborateness  of  the  temple  rites  and  in  the 
increase  of  the  political  and  administrative  activities  of  the 
priests  resulted  in  the  gradual  transfer  of  the  major  portion 
of  the  teaching  function  from  the  priests  and  prophets  to  a 
newly  arisen  teaching  order,  the  Soferim  or  scribes. 

It  must  not  be  inferred,  however,  that  the  priests  ceased 
to  teach.  The  Soferim,  it  is  true,  became  the  teachers  of 
the  Law,  but  the  priests  still  continued  to  be  the  people's 
great  teachers  in  forms  of  worship.  In  addition  to  this,  some 
of  the  priests  were  also  famous  scribes,  and  ijti  this  capacity 
were  professed  teachers  of  the  Law. 

V 
The  Soferim,  or  Scribes. 

The  art  of  writing,  as  already  shown,  had  been  known 
and  employed  from  early  times  by  priests,  prophets,  secre- 
taries and  others.     It  has  also  been  shown  how  the  Exilic 


EDUCATION  IN  SCH(X)L  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.     81 

renaissance  increased  greatly  the  body  of  literature.     The 
original  meaning  of  the  term  soferim  was  "people  who  know 
how  to  write."^^     It  was,  therefore,  applied 
"'*"*  to  court  chroniclers  or  royal  secretaries.    Be- 

cause ability  to  write  came  to  be  generally  accepted  as  the 
mark  of  the  educated  or  learned  man,  the  term  came  to  be 
employed  for  a  wise  man  (1  Chron.  xxvii.  32).^^ 

Following  the  restoration,  the  Jewish  community,  under 
the  leadership  of  the  priest-scribe,  Ezra,  bound  itself  to  the 
observance  of  the  written  Law.^^  If  the  Law  was  to  be 
kept  it  must  be  known  and  understood;  there  must  be 
teachers  and  interpreters.  But  the  Law  was  written  in 
ancient  Hebrew,  a  tongue  almost  unknown  to  the  masses,- 
most  of  whom  spoke  Aramaic  or  Greek.  As  the  result  of 
these  conditions,  those  able  to  read  the  Scriptures  in  the 
original  Hebrew  and  to  interpret  them  to  the  people  came 
to  form  a  distinct  teaching  class.  At  length  soferim  came  to 
be  used  to  designate  specifically  this  great  body  of  teachers 
from  the  time  of  Ezra  to  that  of  Simeon  the  Just  (a  con- 
temporary of  Alexander  the  Great).  It  seems  that  after 
Simeon  the  Just  the  teachers  were  more  generally  styled 
"elders,"  lekenim,  later  "the  wise  ones,"  hakhamim,  while 
soferim  was  sometimes  used  as  an  honorific  appellation.  In 
still  later  times  soferim  became  synonymous  with  "teachers 
of  little  children."  As  conditions  became  more  settled  through- 
out Judea  the  scribes  made  their  way  to  its  remotest  parts. 
In  time  a  powerful  scribes'  guild  was  organized  to  which 
all  teachers  belonged,  and  which  monopolized  the  teaching 
profession.  By  the  time  of  the  Chronicler,  three  ranks  of 
teachers  appear:  (1)  the  Hazzan  or  elementary  teacher; 
(2)  the  scribe;  (3)  the  sage.^* 

11  Max  Seligsohn,  "Scribes,"  Jezvish  Encyclopedia,  XI,  123. 

12  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  T£stament  History,  pp.  393-5,  discredits  this 
story  entirely. 

13  A.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  "Education,"  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  L 
6S0b. 


82  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

The  following  paragraphs,  written  by  Jesus  ben  Sira 

(who  flourished  in  the  first  third  of  the  second  century 

B.C.)^*  present  the  most  complete  description 

The  Ideal  Scribe.      ,   ,,        .j      ,  -u      .t.    .   i_         j  j    j    /^ 

of  the  ideal  scribe  that  has  descended  to  us 
from  that  period.  The  divorce  made  by  Sira  between  the 
life  of  study  and  that  of  industrial  occupations,  and  his 
contempt  for  manual  labor  must  not,  however,  be  regarded 
as  necessarily  representing  a  universal  attitude. 


JESUS  BEN  SIRA  ON  THE  GLORY  OF  BEING  A  SCRIBE. 
(Ecclesiasticus  xxxviii.  24 — xxxix.  11.) 
(F^    "The  wisdom  of  a  learned  man  cometh  by  opportunity 
I  of  leisure :  and  he  that  hath  little  business  shall  become  wise. 

"How  can  he  get  wisdom  that  holdeth  the  plow,  and 
that  glorieth  in  the  goad,  that  driveth  oxen,  and  is  occupied 
in  their  labors,  and  whose  talk  is  of  bullocks?  He  giveth 
his  mind  to  make  furrows ;  and  is  diligent  to  give  the  kine 
fodder. 

"So  every  carpenter  and  workmaster,  that  laboreth  night 
and  day ;  and  they  that  cut  and  grave  seals,  and  are  diligent 
to  make  great  variety,  and  give  themselves  to  counterfeit 
imagery,  and  watch  to  finish  a  work: 

"The  smith  also  sitting  by  the  anvil,  and  considering  the 
iron  work,  the  vapor  of  the  fire  wasteth  his  flesh,  and  he 
fighteth  with  the  heat  of  the  furnace ;  and  the  noise  of  ham- 
mer and  anvil  is  ever  in  his  ears,  and  his  eyes  look  still 
upon  the  pattern  of  the  thing  that  he  maketh;  he  setteth 
his  mind  to  finish  his  work,  and  watcheth  to  polish  it  per- 
fectly ; 

"So  doth  the  potter  sitting  at  his  work,  and  turning 
the  wheel  about  with  his  feet,  who  is  always  carefully  set 
at  his  work,  and  maketh  all  his  work  by  number; 

"He  fashioneth  the  clay  with  his  arm,  and  boweth  down 
his  strength  before  his  feet;  he  applieth  himself  to  lead  it 
over ;  and  he  is  diligent  to  make  clean  his  furnace : 

1*1.  Levi,  "The  Wisdom  of  Jesus  Sirach,"  /m/j/t  £«cyr.,  XI,  389a. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.     83 

"All  these  trust  in  their  hands,  and  every  one  is  wise  in 
his  work. 

"Without  these  cannot  a  city  be  inhabited:  and  they 
shall  not  dwell  where  they  will,  nor  go  up  and  down.  They 
shall  not  be  sought  for  in  public  council,  nor  sit  high  in  the 
congregation;  they  shall  not  sit  on  the  judges'  seat,  nor 
understand  the  sentence  of  judgment;  they  cannot  declare 
justice  and  judgment;  and  they  shall  not  be  found  where 
parables  are  spoken.  But  they  will  maintain  the  state  of 
the  world,  and  (all)  their  desire  is  in  the  work  of  their 
craft. 

"But  he  that  giveth  his  mind  to  the  law  of  the  Most 
High  and  is  occupied  in  the  meditation  thereof,  will  seek 
out  the  wisdom  of  the  ancient,  and  be  occupied  in  proph 
ecies.     He  will  keep  the  sayings  of  renowned  men;  and 
where  subtil  parables  are,  he  will  be  there  also. 

"He  will  seek  out  the  secrets  of  grave  sentences  and  be 
conversant  in  dark  parables. 

"He  shall  serve  among  great  men,  and  appear  before 
princes ;  he  will  travel  through  strange  countries ;  for  he 
hath  triad  the  good  and  the  evil  among  men. 

"He  will  give  his  heart  to  resort  early  to  the  Lord  that 
made  him,  and  will  pray  before  the  Most  High,  and  will 
open  his  mouth  in  prayer,  and  make  supplication  for  his 
sins. 

"He  shall  show  forth  that  which  he  hath  learned,  andi 
shall  glory  in  the  law  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord. 


"If  he  die  he  shall  leave  a  greater  name  than  a  thousand : 
and  if  he  live  he  shall  increase  it."^^ 

^7^^|5  Franz  Delitzsch,  Jewish  Artisan  Life  in  the  Time  of  Jesus, 
PP-  76-77,  for  opinions  opposite  to  those  of  Sira  regarding  the  possi- 
bihty  of  combining  study  with  handicraft.  See  also  below,  Elemen- 
tary Schools,  paragraph  on  Teachers:  etc.,  and  Schools  of  the  Sofe- 
rtm,  paragraph  on  Support. 


84  EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 


The  Soferim  regarded  their  work  as  a  holy  one:  to 
them  had  been  entrusted  the  sacred  task  of  transmitting 
Educational  the  laws  given  by  Yahweh  himself.  Through 
Services.  their  literary  and  educational  activities  they 

//eventually  gained  almost  complete  control  over  religious 
(/thought  and  educatipn.  They  interpreted  the  Law  for  the 
masses.  They  furnished  the  texts  upon  which  instruction 
was  based.  They  established  elementary  schools  and  col-  >^ 
leges.  They  taught  public  and  select  groups  of  pupils.  It 
was  their  aim  "to  raise  up  many  disciples,"  as  is  said  in  the 
Talmud  ("Tract  Aboth,"  I,  2).  On  occasions  of  public 
worship  they  translated  the  Scriptures  written  in  a  tongue 
-  almost  unknown  to  the  masses  in  the  post-Exilic  period 
into  the  language  of  the  people.  In  their  teaching  and  in 
their  lives  they  represented  the  new  educational  and  re- 
ligious ideal  of  the  times,  Judaism.  Within  their  schools 
arose  that  oral  literature  which  developed  into  the  Talmud.-- 

Despite  the  sincere  efforts  of  the  Soferim  to  adjust  the 
Law  to  changing  conditions  they  soon  became  burdened 
Defects  and  with  such  a  mass  of  traditions  and  precedents 
Weaknesses.  ^j^^t  readjustment  and  progress  became  ex- 
tremely difficult  if  not  impossible.  Their  standpoint  as 
legalists  led  to  such  emphasis  upon  technical  adherence  to 
details  that  the  great  principles  were  frequently  lost  sight 
of.  Political,  social  and  religious  life  came  to  be  dominated 
by  a  burdensome  system  of  traditions,  laws  and  minute 
regulations,  the  external  form  of  which  instead  of  the 
spirit  and  underlying  principles  came  to  be  the  focus  of 
interest  and  attention.^* 

Rabbis. 

Qn^naAly  the  leaderjof_any  union  of  jworkmgn,  even  ^' 
the  leader  of  the  hangmen,  was  called  rafe&i,  (literally,  "my, 
master").    Rabbi  was  applied  to  the  head  of  the  weavers 

i«For  a  contrary  view  see  S.  Schechter,  'The  Law  and  Recent 
Criticism"  in  Schechter's  Studies  in  Judaism,  Vol.  I,  pp.  233-251. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.     85 

(Talmud,  "Tract  Abodah  Zarah"  17b),  and  to  the  head  of 
the  gladiators  (Talmud,  "Tract  Baba  Mezia,"  84a).  It  was  , 
commonly  applied  to  teachers,  but  did  not  entitle  its  posses- 
sor to  preach  or  teach.     It  apparently  was  not  used  dis- 
tinctively as  a  teacher's  title  till  after  the  time  of  Christ.^^ 

The  Perushim  or  Pharisees. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century  B.  C.  there 
came  into  prominence  among  the  Jews  two  important  sects 
Origin,  charac-   or  parties,  the  Perushim  or  Pharisees,  and  ^ 

teristics.  the  Zedukim  or  Sadducees.^^     The  PerusWm  lU'^^'^ 

or  separatists  were  simply  later  exponents  of  a  tendency 
older  than  the  time  of  Ezra.     This  tendency  had  its  be- 
ginnings in  the  earliest  impulses  of  a  certain  portion  of  the 
Jews  to  regard  the  devout  observance  of  the  laws  of  Yah- 
weh  as  the  supreme  aim  of  individual  and  national  life. 
They  believed  the  Jews  could  realize  this  aim  only  by  holding 
themselves  aloof  from  all  foreign  innovations  and  by  em- 
phasizing those  elements  and  customs  of  Jewish  life  that 
marked  off  the  Jews  as  a  distinct  and  peculiar  people.  They 
"insisted  upon  all  political  undertakings,  all  public  transac-j) 
tions,  every  national  act  being  tried  by  the  standard  of  reli-'' 
gion."^*  In  both  of  these  positions  they  were  opposed  by  the 
Sadducees.  They  differed  further  from  the  Zedukim  or  Sad-       W«^ 
ducees  in  accepting  and  throwing  the  weight  of  their  influ-  ^y^ 
ence  in  favor  of  the  oral  law  of  the  scribes  and  many  beliefs 
not  set  forth  in  the  Pentateuch,  such  as  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  and  the  belief  in  the  existence  of  angels  and 
future  rewards  and  punishrnents.    ' 

Many  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  scribes  were  Peru- 
shim, but  the  Perushim  were  in  no  sense  a  teaching  order. 
Rather  they  constituted  a  religious  sect  or  party  which  in- 

"  A.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  "Education,"  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  I, 
650b. 

18  H.  P.  Smith,  Old  Testament  History,  p.  479. 

"  H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jews,  II,  17. 


86  EDUCATION   IN   ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

eluded  men  of  every  rank  and  occupation.  Their  educa- 
tional importance  grew  out  of  the  support  they  gave  to  the 
cause  of  Judaism  and  to  the  teachings  and  educational  ef- 
forts of  the  Soferim. 


EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 

Rise  of  Universal  Education. 

Universal  compulsory  education  for  the  sake  of  pre-' 
serving  the  nation:  is  a  state  policy  familiar  to  the  modern 
world.  The  gradual  development  of  this  policy  among  the 
Jews  of  Palestine  is  the  most  interesting  and  most  signifi- 
cant feature  of  the  history  of  education  from  the  time  of 
the  restoration  of  the  Jewish  community  in  the  sixth  cen- 
tury B.  C.  to  the  end  of  the  Jewish  state  70  A.  D.  The 
realization  of  this  policy  was  made  possible  by  two  distinct 
but  nevertheless  inseparable  movements :  first,  the  evolution 
of  a  professional  teaching  class ;  second,  the  rise  of  edu- 
cational institutions.  The  Native  or  pre-Exilic  Period  had 
been  a  period  without  schools,  the  period  of  foreign  influ-ence 
was  marked  by  the  rise  of  three  types  of  educative  institu- 
tions: (1)  the  synagogue;  (2)  boys'  elementary  schools: 
(3)  the  scribes'  (or  higher)  schools. 

The  most  important  steps  in  the  rise  of  the  policy  of 
universal  education  may  be  stated  as  follows :  ( 1 )  the  public 
adoption  of  the  sacred  canon  and  solemn  covenant  to  keep 
the  Law  of  Yahweh;  (2)  the  provision  of  universal  oppor- 
tunities for  instruction  through  the  rise  and  gradual  spread 
of  the  synagogue;  (3)  the  rise  of  elementary  schools  (at- 
tendance voluntary)  ;  (4)  70  B.  C,  ordinance  (of  Simon 
ben  Shetach)  making  compulsory  the  education  of  orphan 
boys  over  sixteen  years  of  age;  (5)  boys'  compulsory  ele- 
mentary education  b^  edict  of  Joshua  ben  Gamala,  high 
priest,  64  A.  D. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.     87 


The  Synagogue. 

Jewish  tradition  traces  the  synagogue  back  to  the  time 
of  Moses.  Nevertheless  it  is  not  expressly  mentioned  until 
Origin  and  the  last  century  of  the  second  temple,  but  then 
Spread.  ^^  2in  institution  long  existing,  universal,  and 

the  center  of  Jewish  life.^^  It  may  have  arisen  during  the 
Exile.  Sacrifice  could  be  offered  only  in  Jerusalem,  but 
prayer  and  the  study  of  the  Law  could  be  carried  on  regard- 
less of  place.  The  Sabbath,  already  observed  as  a.  day  of 
rest  in  pre-Exilic  times,^^  offered  the  exiles  leisure  and  op- 
portunity for  study.  The  custom  of  assembling  on  the 
Sabbath  for  worship  and  study  may  have  arisen  in  Babylon, 
whence  it  may  have  been  carried  back  to  Jerusalem  and 
there  institutionalized  in  the  synagogue.  After  the  restora- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  the  synagogue  spread  throughout  Judea 
and  the  entire  Jewish  world.^^ 

The  term  synagogue,  applied  originally  to  the  assembly,, 
came  in  time  to  be  applied  to  the  building  in  which  the 
General  Charac-  assembly  met.  The  use  of  the  term  "church" 
ter  and  Purpose,  illustrates  a  similar  transference  of  a  title  from 
a  group  of  people  to  the  building  occupied  by  the  group. 
Although  used  as  public  halls,  court  rooms  and  places  for 
scourging  malefactors,  the  synagogues  never  ceased  to  be 
chiefly  houses  of  instruction  and  worship.  In  communities; 
too  small  or  too  poor  to  erect  a  separate  building,  a  room 
in  some  building  might  be  devoted  to  the  purpose.  The  in- 
terior of  buildings  erected  as  synagogues  was  generally 
round  or  rectangular.^^    Beyond  the  middle  rose  the  bema 

20  W.  Bacher,  "Synagogue,"  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  IV,  636d. 

21  Exodus  xxiii.  12.  Nothing  is  said  in  this  earliest  legislation 
about  special  religious  observance.  See  T.  G.  Soares,  The  Social  In- 
stitutions and  Ideals  of  the  Bible,  pp.  168ff.  C.  H.  W.  Johns,  "The 
Babylonian  and  Assyrian  Sabbath,"  Enc.  Brit.,  11th  ed.  XXIII,  961d- 
962a. 

22  W.  Bacher,  "Synagogue,"  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  IV,  637b. 
28  Alfred  Edersheim,  In  the  Days  of  Christ,  p.  254. 


88  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

or  platform.^*  On  the  center  of  this  stood  the  lectern  or 
pulpit.  Farther  back  stood  the  "ark,"  the  chest  containing 
the  scrolls  of  Scripture.^'*  The  manner  in  which  worship 
and  instruction  were  combined  in  synagogical  religious  exer- 
cises is  revealed  by  the  order  of  service. 

Synagogue  services  were  held  twice  on  the  Sabbath ;  on 
all  fej5t-  and  fast-days ;  and  on  the  two  weekly  njarket- 
days,  Monday  and  Thursday .^^  Although  the 
*  service  varied  somewhat  with  the  day  and  the 
hour,^^  the  general  order  was  the  same :  that  of  the  Sabbath 
morning  may  be  taken  as  a  type.  An  analysis  of  the  Sab- 
bath morning  service  shows  that  it  consisted  of  two  main 
"divisions :  one,  liturgical ;  the  other,  instructional.  The  litur- 
gical portion  consisted  of  the  recitation  by  all  adult  males^^ 
of  the  Shema^^  preceded  and  followed  by  a  number  of 
"benedictions,"  prayers  or  eulogies^^  recited  by  one  indi- 
vidual especially  deputed  for  the  occasion,  the  congregation 
simply  responding  "Amen."^®  The  Shema  is  commonly 
characterized  as  the  national  creed  or  confession.^^  It  is 
composed  of  three  scriptural  passages  i^^  Deuteronomy  vi. 
4-9 ;  Deuteronomy  xi.  13-21 ;  Numbers  xv.  37-41.  It  begins : 
"Hear  O  Israel,  Yahweh  is  our  God,  Yahweh  alone,"  a  pas- 
sage which  offers  many  difficulties  in  translation  as  may  be 
seen  from  the  variant  translations  in  the  marginal  note  of 
the  American  Revised  Version.  It  is  named  Shema  from  its 
initial  Hebrew  word  shema,  meaning  "hear."  The  liturgical 
portion  of  the  service  offered  definite  systematic  training  on 
three  or  more  days  per  week  in  worship  and  acts  of  devo- 
tion. The  instructional  portion  consisted  in  the  reading 
from  the  Law  and  then  from  the  Prophets  in  the  original 
Hebrew  passages  assigned  to  the  day,  which  were  forthwith 
translated  into  the  vernacular  by  the  meturgeman  or  trans- 
lator who  stood  beside  the  reader.^* 

^*  Ibid.,  261.  2^  Ibid.,  262. 

.  26/ttrf.^277d-278a.  ^f  Ibid.,2G^. 

28  Ibid.,  275c.  29  i^id^^  277-279. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.     89 

It  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  the  educational  signifi-  ^ 
cance  of  a  custom  which  resulted  in  insuring  the  reading  to 
the  Aramaic  or  Greek  speaking  masses  of  their  native  litera- 
ture in  the  original  tongue.  The  Pentateuch  was  so  divided 
that  its  reading  extended  over  three  or  three  and  a  half 
years.^*^  The  section  for  the  day  was  subdivided  in  such  a 
manner  that  at  least  seven  persons  might  be  called  upon  to 
read  a  portion  of  not  less  than  three  verses  each.^^  The 
Law  was  read  and  translated  verse  by  verse.  The  reading 
and  translating  of  the  Prophets  was  presented  in  passages  of 
three  verses  each.^^ 

The  synagogue  service  provided  training  in  worship  and  ] 
oral  instruction  in  the  Scriptures  for  every  man,  woman  and  j 
child  in  the  community.    Furthermore,  it  furnished  a  power-  i 
ful  stimulus  to  every  man  and  boy  to  become  an  earnest'! 
student  of  the  native  literature,  for  any  male,  eyen  a  minor, 
might  act  either  as  reader  or  meturgeman,^^  and  the  public 
esteem  attached  to  fulfilling  such  an  office  made  it  the  pious 
ambition  of  all,  through  the  many  opportunities  it  furnished 
to  those  qualified  for  active  participation  in  its  "Services. 
Moreover,  one  individual  especially  deputed  for  the  occa- 
sion led  in  the  recitation  of  the  benedictions  or  prayers'' 
which  constituted  so  large  a  part  of  the  liturgical  portion  of 
the  service,  the  congregation  simply  responding  "Amen."'' 
Finally,  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  was  followed  by  the 
derashah,  an  address  or  exposition  which  consisted  of  the 
explanation  and  application  of  the  day's  lesson  or  some 
portion  of  it.^'^     Here  again  we  find  a  custom  providing,Y 
on  the  one  hand,  instruction  for  the  mass  of  the  people,  and  | 
on  the  other  hand,  an  incentive  for  earnest  study,  for  any 
learned  man  present  might  be  called  upon  to  act  as  the 
datshan  or  expositor.    The  manner  in  which  the  synagogue 
combined  worship  and  education,  instruction  for  the  masses 

^^Ihid.,277.  31 /^,tU,  279a. 

32/Mf/.,278.  ^^  Ibid.,  275. 

^*  Ibid.,  279h-c. 


90  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

and  incentives  to  study  for  those  having  leisure  and  ability, 
will  appear  from  the  following  outline^*  of  the  Sabbath 
morning  order  of  service. 

ORDER  OF  SYNAGOGUE  SERVICE   ( SABBATH  MORNING.) 
PART  I.     LITURGICAL  OR  DEVOTIONAL. 

I.    Lectern  Devotions.^s 

1.  Two  "Benedictions." 

2.  The  Shema — recited  by  all  adult  males. 

3.  One  "Benediction." 

II.  Devotions  Before  the  "Ark."8« 

4.  Various  "Benedictions." 

The  number  apparently  varied  from  twelve  in  earlier  times 
to  eighteen  or  nineteen  in  later  times.^'^ 

5.  The  Priestly  Benediction  (Numbers  vi.  23-24) .88 

To  be  recited  by  a  descendant  of  Aaron  if  any  such  were 
present,  otherwise  by  the  leader  of  the  devotions.*® 

PART  II.    INSTRUCTIONAL. 

I.  The  Scripture  Lessons. 

1.  "Benediction"  by  first  reader.^* 

2.  Reading  and  translation  of  selections  from  the  Law. 

3.  Reading  and  translation  of  selections  from  the  Prophets. 

4.  "Benediction"  by  the  last  reader.*® 
II.  The  Exposition  or  Derashah. 

The  synagogue  was  the  earliest,  the  most  widespread 
and  the  most  enduring  of  all  the  educational  institutions 
Educational  Sig-  after  the  Exile.  It  was  the  first  institution  to 
mficance.  ^^^^  systematic  instruction  to  both  sexes.    It 

.  was  the  parent  of  the  scribe  college  and  the  elementary 
\  school.     Out  of  it  arose  the  movement  which  resulted  in 
universal  education.     Under  its  influence  and  that  of  the 

**  Ibid.,  268ff.  Edersheim  states  in  a  footnote  on  page  268  that  his 
description  is  based  on  a  study  of  the  Mishna. 

se  "The  'Shema'  and  its  accompanying  'benedictions'  seem  to  have 

been  said at  the  lectern;  whereas  for  the  next  series  of  prayers 

the  leader  of  the  devotions  went  forward  and  stood  before  the  ark." 
Ibid.,  272a. 

"  Ibid.,  272-275.  "  jbid,^  275.  »» Ibid.,  277. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.     91 

scribes  all  Jews  became  students  of  the  Law ;  the  Law  became  ' 
the  most  reverenced  of  all  studies,  and  the  center  of  re- 
ligious and  intellectual  interest. 

Elementary  Schools. 

It  was  but  a  step  from  using  the  synagogue  on  Sabbaths 
and  feast-days  as  a  place  of  instruction  to  using  it  every  day 
Origin  and  Ex-  as  a  placc  for  teaching  boys  whose  parents 
tension.  would  permit  them  to  come.    A  school  was  a 

common  feature  of  Babylonian  temples,  and  if  the  syna- 
gogue arose  during  the  Exile  it  may  be  that  the  elementary 
school  arose  at  this  time  also  as  an  adjunct  to  the  synagogue. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  may  not  have  arisen  till  after  the 
Exile  and  then  not  in  any  sense  as  a  borrowed  institution 
but  merely  as  a  natural  result  of  the  increasing  conviction 
that  the  salvation  of  the  Jews  depended  upon  every  Jew  ' 
knowing  and  keeping  the  Law."*** 

When  such  schools  first  became  universal  is  still  an  open 
question.    The  universality  of  teachers  in  the  first  part  of 
the  first  century  A.  D.  and,  by  inference,  of  schools  fs  shown  *■ 
by  passages  in  the  New  Testament  such  as  Luke  v.  17: 
"There  were  Pharisees  and  doctors  of  the  law,  sitting  by, 
who  were  come  out  of  every  village  of  Galilee  and  Judeal] 
and  Jerusalem."     In  the  year  64  A.  D.  the  ordinance  of'! 
Gamala^^  required  that  one  or  more,  elementary  schools  be 
established  in  every  community.    The  elementary  school  was 
always  located  in  the  synagogue  proper,  or  in  some  room 
attached  to  the  synagogue  or  in  the  master's  house.*^    If,  as 
is  generally  agreed,  teachers  and  synagogues  were  practically 
universal  in  Palestine  in  the  first  century  B.  C,  it  does  not 

*®  In  time  the  name  most  commonly  given  to  such  a  school  was 
Betha-Sefer,  or  "House  of  the  Book";  this,  however,  is  a  post- 
Bibhcal  term  and  is  consequently  avoided  in  the  present  account. 

*i  The  claims  of  Shetach  and  the  ordinance  of  Gamala  will  be  dis- 
cussed m  the  immediately  following  paragraphs. 

*^A.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  "Education,"  Hastings^  Bible  Dictionary,  I, 


92  EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

seem  unreasonable  to  conclude  that,  whether  elementary  edu- 
cation was  compulsory  or  not  at  this  time,  elementary  schools 
were  exceedingly  widely  spread,  perhaps  practically  uni- 
versal. Moreover,  if  the  claims  of  Shetach  be  admitted,  and  ^  " 
if  his  law  refers,  as  some  maintain,  to  already  existing 
schools,  it  is  possible  that  elementary  schools  were  all  but 
universal  even  earlier  than  the  first  century  B.  C,  how  much 
earlier  cannot  be  conjectured."*^ 

The  widespread  existence  of  elementary  schools  proved 
in  itself  insufficient  to  guarantee  an  education  to  every  boy. 
Compulsory  To  insure  this,  a  law  was  passed  requiring 
Education.  every   community   to   establish  one  or  more 

elementary  schools  and  making  attendance  compulsory  for 
boys  over  seven  years.  It  is  a  matter  of  dispute  whether 
this  law  was  passed  early  in  the  first  century  B.  C.  or  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  first  century  A.  D.  Some  writers  give  the 
credit  to  a  decree  issued  in  75  B.  C.  by  Simon  ben  Shetach,  \^ 
brother-in-law  of  the  Jewish  king  Alexander  Janneus  (r. 
104-78  B.C.)  and  president  of  the  Sanhedrin.  Kennedy, 
in  his  brief  but  scholarly  account,  asserts  there  is  no  good 
reason  for  rejecting  the  tradition  regarding  Shetach's  efforts 
on  behalf  of  popular  education,  but  fails  to  state  what  he 
considers  this  tradition  to  include.**  Graetz,  recounting  the 
reign  of  Queen  Alexandra,  writes: 

"Simon  ben  Shetach,  the  brother  of  the  queen,  the  oracle 
of  the  Pharisaic  party,  stood  high  in  her  favor.    So  great  a 

Rival  Claims  P^^^  ^^^  ^^  P^^Y  ^^  "^^  history  of  that  time 
of  Shetach  and     that  it  was  Called  by  many  'the  days  of  Simon 

ben  Shetach  and  of  Queen  Sajome.'*'' 3ut 

Simon  was  not  an  ambitious  man  and  he  determined  to  waive 
his  own  rights  (to  the  presidency  of  the  Great  Council) .  .  .in 
favor  of  Judah  ben  Tabbai,  who  was  then  residing  in  Alex- 

p-  *^,  ^^4^"^^""'s  conclusions  given  below  in  the  paragraph  on  the 
Kival  Claims  of  Shetach  and  Gamala,  should  be  consulted  at  this  point. 
64Q**^"  ^*  ^'  Kennedy,  "Education,"  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  I, 

*'  H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jews,  II.  48d. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.     93 

andria,  of  whose  profound  learning  and  excellent  character  he 
had  formed  a  high  estimate .  .  .These  two  celebrated  men  have 
therefore  been  called  'Restorers  of  the  Law/  who  'brought 
back  to  the  Crown  (the  Law)  its  ancient  splendor'.  . .  .^^ 

"One  of  the  reforms  of  this  time  expressly  attributed  to 
Simon  ben  Shetach  was  the  promotion  of  better  instruction. 
In  all  large  towns,  high  schools  for  the  use  of  young  men 
from  the  age  of  sixteen  sprang  up  at  his  instance.  But  all 
study,  we  may  presume,  was  entirely  confined  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  particularly  to  the  Pentateuch  and  the  study 
of  the  Law.  Many  details  or  smaller  points  in  the  Law 
which  had  been  partly  forgotten  and  partly  neglected  during 
the  long  rule  of  the  Sadducees,  that  is  to  say,  from  Hyr- 
canus's  oppression  of  the  Pharisees  until  the  commencement 
of  Salome's  reign,  were  once  more  introduced  into  daily 
life."*^ 

The  passage  in  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  which  records  the 
services  rendered  to  education  by  Simon  ben  Shetach  reads 
as  follows : 

"Simon  ben  Shetach  ordained  three  things :  that  a  man 
may  do  business  with  the  kethubah  (a  sum  of  money  stipu- 
lated in  the  marriage  contract)  ;  that  people  should  send 
their  children  to  school;  that  glassware  be  subject  to  con- 
tamination."** 

It  is  evident  that  the  brevity  and  vagueness  of  the  ref- 
erence to  education  in  this  passage  are  such  as  to  furnish 
basis  for  much  discussion  but  at  the  same  time  such  as  to 
make  exceedingly  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  any  conclusions 
as  to  what  Shetach  actually  did. 

Giidemann,*^  Grossmann  and  Kandel,'°  Laurie,"^  Leip- 

*«  Ibid.,  p.  49a  and  d.  *7  j^id,^  pp.  50d-51a. 

*»  Jerusalem  Talmud,  "Kethuboth,"  VIII,  end. 

*»  M.  Giidemann,  "Education,"  Jewish  Encyc,  V,  43c. 

50  Grossmann  and  Kandel,  "Jewish  Education,"  Monroe's  Cyclo- 
pedia of  Education,  III,  542d. 

^"^  S.  S.  Laurie,  Pre-Christian  Education,  p.  93. 


94  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

ziger,'^^  and  Spiers/'*  while  crediting  Shetach  with  educa- 
^tional  reforms,  regard  the  law  issued  in  64  A.  D.  by  the 
high  priest  Joshua  ben  GAmala  as  the  ordinance  by  which 
elementary  education  was  first  made  universal  and  compul- 
sory for  boys  over  six  or  seven.  The  defenders  of  the 
claims  of  Gamala  assert  that  the  law  of  Shetach  applied 
either  only  to  orphan  boys  over  sixteen  years  of  age,  or 
only  to  Jerusalem  and  other  large  cities.  If  the  first  of 
these  positions  be  accepted,  it  would  follow  that  the  first 
step  toward  compulsory  education  was  the  establishment  in 
75  B.  C.  of  higher  schools  for  orphan  boys  over  sixteen 
years  of  age.    Gudemann  sums  up  the  situation  as  follows : 

"The  scribes,  at  first,  restricted  their  educational  activ- 
ities to  adults,  giving  free  lectures  in  synagogues  and  schools 
while  the  education  of  children  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
parents  as  in  olden  timds.  But  as  boys  often  lacked  this  ; 
advantage,  the  state  employed  teachers  in  Jerusalem  (B.  5^ 
21a)  to  whose  care  the  children  from  the  provinces  were 
entrusted;  and  as  these  did  not  suffice,  schools  were  also 
established  in  the  country  towns.  This  arrangement  must 
probably  be  referred  to  an  ordinance  of  R.  Simon  ben  Shetach 
(Jer.Talm.;'Ktth:'YlU,  end ).-»«...  .These  district  schools 
were  intended  only  for  youths  of  sixteen  and  seventeen 
years  of  age  who  could  provide  for  themselves  away  from 
home.  The  high  priest  Joshua  ben  Gamala  instituted  schools 
for  boys  of  six  and  seven  years  in  all  cities  of  Palestine."''* 

The  section  of  the  Babylonian  Talmud  recounting  the 
X  work  of  Gamala  is  of  such  importance  in  the  history  of 
Jewish  education  that  no  account,  however  summary,  can 
aflFord  to  omit  it.  The  passage  is  valuable  not  only  for  its 
account  of  Gamala's  work  but  for  the  light  it  thrown  on 
earlier  conditions. 

"Verily  let  it  be  remembered  to  that  man   for  good. 

»2  H.  M.  Leipziger,  Education  of  the  Jezvs,  p.  197. 

"  B.  Spiers,  The  School  System  of  the  Talmud,  pp.  9-10. 

''*  M.  Gudemann,  "Education,"  Jewish  Encyc,  V,  43. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHCX)L  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.     95 

Rabbi  Joshua  ben  Gamala  is  his  name,  for  had  he  not  been, 
the  Law  would  have  been  forgotten  in  Israel.  At  first  every 
one  that  had  a  father  received  from  him  instruction  in  the 

Law,  but  he  that  had  no  father  learned  not  the  Law 

Thereafter  teachers  for  the  children  were  appointed  in  Je- 
rusalem. . . .  But  even  this  measure  sufficed  not,  for  he  that 
had  a  father  was  brought  by  him  to  school  and  was  taught 
there,  but  he  that  had  no  father  was  not  brought  to  be 
taught  there.  In  consequence  of  this,  it  was  ordained  that 
teachers  should  be  appointed  in  every  district,  to  whom 
children  were  sent  when  they  were  sixteen  or  seventeen 
years  of  age.  When  a  teacher  became  angry  with  a  scholar, 
the  latter  stamped  his  feet  and  ran  away.  In  this  condition 
education  remained  until  the  time  of  Joshua  ben  Gamala, 
who  ordained  that  in  every  province  and  in  every  town- 
there  should  be  teachers  appointed  to  whom  children  should  ^ 
be  brought  at  the  age  of  six  or  seven  years."''' 

Any  such  legislation  as  that  described  in  the  foregoing 
paragraphs  would,  of  course,  have  been  ineffective  had  it 
not  been  supported  by  a  widespread  sentiment  in  favor  of 
education. 

All  schools  were  for  boys  only  and  all  teachers  were 
men.     The  ordinance  of  Gamala  required  communities  to 
Organization  of  Provide  One  teacher  for  twenty-five  pupils  orjj 
Elementary         less ;   f  or  any  number  over  twenty-five  and' ' 

°**  *■  less  than  fifty,  one  teacher  and  one  assistant ; 

for  fifty  pupils,  two  teachers  and  two  classes. ''^    In  the  be- 
ginning probably  any  scribe  or  any  officer  of 

*•   Teachers:  ,  i        i       «     i       i    • 

Numbers,  the  synagoguc  who  had  the  leisure  taught  the 

Social  Standing,  elementary    classes.     In    time,  however,    the 

Rewards.  /  >  > 

master  of  the  elementary  school  came  to  hold 
membership  in  the  powerful  scribes'  guild  and  to  bear  the 

"  Der  Babylonische  Talmud,  "Baba  Bathra,"  tr.  by  Wunsche ;  A. 
R.  S.  Kennedy,  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  I,  250b.  I  have  taken 
Kennedy's  translation  of  Wunsche  here  in  preference  to  Rodkinson's. 

^^  Babylonian  Talmud,  "Baba  Bathra,"  21a.  (Tr.  Rodkinson,  p.  62.) 


96    .  EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

distinct  title  of  hazzan.^''  Kennedy  asserts  that  the  Hazzan 
of  the  elementary  schools  was  distinct  from  the  synagogue 
officer  of  the  same  title  whose  work  consisted  largely  of 
menial  duties  connected  with  the  synagogue,  including  even 
the  whipping  of  criminals.'^*  Other  writers  consider  that 
the  two  may  have  been  identical. 

J       Although  the  scribes  taught  without  pay  and  supported 
themselves,  if  necessary,  by  plying  a  trade,  the  Hazzan  prob- 
ably received  a  regular  though  small  wage.*^*    The  greatest 
// reward,  however,  of  the  teachers  of  every  rank  was  the  love, 
j  gratitude,  esteem  and  veneration  in  which  they  were  held 
iby  the  community.     In  public  and  in  private  they  were 
treated  with  a  marked  and  particular  respect,  and  no  man  in 
a  Jewish  community  occupied  a  more  esteemed  or  a  more 
enviable  position.    Moral  character,  knowledge  of  the  Law 
y/^  and  pious  observance  of  all  it' "ordinances,  were  undoubtedly 
th§  qualities  most  sought  for  in  a  teacher. 
y^.    Before  the  boy  began  going  to  school  he  had  learned  at 
^  ^Ni'^  home   many   passages   of    Scripture,    some   prayers,    some 
b.  Aim  of  the      songs  and'  many  sacred  traditions  of  his  race. 
Elementary         He  had   also   Witnessed  and   participated   in 
many  feasts  and  festivals  and  listened  to  the 
explanations  of  the  origin  and  significance  of  each  act.    The 
ll  aim  of  the  elementary  school  was  to  give  every  boy  a  com- 
j    plete  mastery  of  the  Law  and  thus  prepare  him  for  assuming 
\  upon  reaching  his  majority,  responsibility  for  the  Law. 

Probably  the  only  subjects   taught   in  the   elementary 

school  were  reading,  writing  and  the  elements  of  arithmetic. 

Learning  to  read  and  to  write  was  far  from  an  easy  task. 

No  language  was  permitted  other  than  the  ancient  Hebrew,^" 

'^^  A.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  "Education,"  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  I, 

^^Ibid. 

'^^'D.  Eaton.  "Scribes,"  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  IV,  422d;  cf. 
Apts  xvin.  3 ;  M.  Schloessinger,  "Hazzan,"  Jewish  Encyclopedia,  VI, 
285c-d. 

«0A.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  "Education,"  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  I, 
651. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.     97 

a  tongue  almost  unknown  to  the  children  of  this  period,  in  ^ 
the  majority  of  whose  homes  Aramaic  or  Greek  was  spoken. 
The  difficulty  of  learning  to  read  and  write 
was  further  increased  by  the  fact  that  in  writ- 
ing ancient  Hebrew,  vowel  sounds  were  not  indicated.  Thus 
Yahweh  was  written  YHWH.  Consequently,  a  large  ele- 
ment in  reading  consisted  in  reproducing  from  memory  the 
vowel  sounds. 

The  work  of  the  elementary  school  centered  about., 
memorizing  the  Law  in  its  threefold  content,  ceremonial, ji 
civil  and  criruinal.  No  doubt  Hebrew  education  like  that 
of  every  other  oriental  people  made  great  demands  upon  the 
child's  memory.  However,  we  should  never  lose  sight  of 
the  fact  that  passages  which  the  boy  would  be  required  to 
learn  by  heart,  setting  forth  the  details  of  rites  and  laws  and 
which  to  a  Gentile  of  to-day  are  vague,  unreal  and  exceed- 
ingly difficult  to  remember,  were  in  many  cases  merely 
descriptions  of  acts  the  pupil  had  witnessed  from  his  earliest 
years.  They  had  been  presented  concretely  again  and  again 
in  a  manner  which  could  not  fail  to  impress  them  vividly 
upon  his  mind  long  before  he  was  assigned  the  task  of  com- 
mitting them  to  memory.  From  the  very  first,  his  parents 
had  explained  to  him,  as  far  as  his  years  and  understand- 
ing permitted,  the  origin,  real  or  traditional,  and  the  signi- 
ficance of  all  that  entered  into  law  or  rite.  In  view  of  the 
relation  that  the  Law  in  its  threefold  content  held  to  the  life 
of  the  community,  it  will  be  seen  that  this  work  of  the 
schools,  far  from  being  remote  from  life,  was  in  reality  a 
distinctly  socializing  process.  The  only  way  to  comprehend 
the  breadth  of  studies  of  the  elementary  schools  is  by  re-, 
calling  the  varied  nature  of  the  contents  of  the  Scriptures. 
Upon  this  basis,  it  will  be  seen  that  religion,  morals,  man- 
ners, history  and  law  as  well  as  the  three  R's  were  studied 
in  the  elementary  school,  for  all  these  are  contained  in  the 
great  literature  there  taught  to  the  child. 

The  books  included  in  the  Scriptures,  especially  those 


98  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

constituting  the  Pentateuch,  were  the  chief  school  texts. 
The  Psalms,  owing  to  their  important  place  in  the  temple 
worship,  undoubtedly  received  much  attention 
in  the  school.  Two  other  books  which  must 
have  held  a  prominent  place  in  the  schools  were  Proverbs 
and  the  apocryphal  book,  Ecclesiasticus.  Both  arose  during 
this  period ;  both  were  specifically  designed  as  texts  for  in- 
struction; both  are  compilations  of  moral  and  religious 
maxims,  instruction  in  manners,  intermingled  with  eulogies 
of  the  Law,  its  study,  and  its  students  and  the  virtues  it 
extols.  In  later  times  there  were  prepared  .as  texts  for 
little  children  small  parchment  rolls  containing  portions  of 
the  Scriptures  such  as  the  Shema,®^  the  Hallel  (Psalms 
cxiii-cxviii),  history  from  the  Creation  to  the  Flood,  the 
first  eight  chapters  of  Leviticus.®^  How  early  such  texts 
were  employed  cannot  be  determined. 

The  hair-splitting  methods  of  the  scholars  of  this  period, 
as  well  as  the  sanctity  attached  to  every  word  and  every 
e.  Methods  Re-  ^^^^^^  ^^  ^he  Law  made  it  necessary  that  it 
views,  Incentives  be  memorized  exactly  word  for  word  and 
to  Study.  letter  for  letter.     Absolute  accuracy  was  im- 

perative owing  to  the  fact  that  many  Hebrew  characters 
are  almost  identical  (e.  g.,  h  and  ^/i)  and  that  the  interchange 
of  two  such  characters  frequently  gives  not  only  different 
but  opposite  meanings :  thus  hallel  means  "to  praise,"  '^hallel 
means  "to  desecrate."  To  achieve  this  end  countless  memo- 
I  riter  exercises  and  constant  repetitions  were  employed.  The 
Rabbinical  saying  "to  review  one  hundred  and  one  times 
is  better  than  to  review  one  hundred  times"  indicates  much 
regarding  the  character  of  the  school  work. 

A  large  part  of  the  literature  committed  to  memory  was 
no  doubt  interesting  to  the  child,  nevertheless,  many  portions 
of  it  must  have  been  indescribably  dull  and  taxing.     The 

«i  See  above,  The  Synagogue,  paragraph  on  Order  of  Service,  and 
note  27. 

•2  A.  Edersheim,  In  the  Days  of  Christ,  p.  117. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.      99 

great  veneration  in  which  the  Law  was  held  and  the  fact 
that  through  it  alone  was  there  access  to  the  highest  posi- 
tions in  state  and  society  were  no  doubt  sufficient  incentives 
to  spur  on  the  older  boys  to  diligent  study.  But  the  eom- 
mendatiohs  of  corporal  punishment  to  be  found  in  the 
Scriptures,®^  as  well  as  the  Jewish  conception  of  child  nature, 
leave  no  doubt  that  punishment  was  used  freely  in  the  school 
to  keep  the  younger  and  less  studious  at  their  tasks. 

The  Jews  of  this  period  have  already  been  described  as 
a  "people  of  the  book."  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that 
Results  of  Eie-  education  in  the  schools  was  thoroughly  book- 
mentary  Educa-  ish.  The  Greeks  had  sought  in  vain  to  induce 
**°"'  the  Jews  to  include  in  their  course  of  study 

physical  culture,  the  golden  classics  of  Greece^  and  Greek 
science.  Nevertheless,  the  boy  who  had  completed  the| 
studies  of  the  elementary  school  was  master  of  one  of  thej 
greatest  literatures  any  race  has  ever  produced.  He  prob- 
ably knew  by  heart  most  of  the  Pentateuch  as  well  as  selec- 
tions from  many  other  books  of  the  Scriptures.  He  was 
ready  to  explain  the  origin  and  meaning  of  the  sacred  rites 
and  customs,  public  and  private,  which  played  a  part  in  the 
events  of  each  day.  He  was  steeped  in  the  religious  con- 
sciousness of  his  people  and  was  united  with  them  in 
thought,  knowledge  and  sympathies.    Ellis  writes: 

"An  interesting  commentary  on  the  (elementary)  edu- 
cation of  the  time  is  that  of  Jesus.  He  never  attended  one 
of  the  Rabbinical  schools  (Mark  vi.  2,  3),  and  this  allows 
us  to  see  what  advantages  the  common  people  had.  His 
knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  was  remarkable  and  unchal- 
lenged. He  could  read  Hebrew  and  was  often  called  upon  to 
officiate  in  the  synagogue  (Luke  iv.  16;  Mark  i.  21,  etc.)."** 

«3  See  Chapter  IV,  paragraph  on  Conception  of  Child  Nature — 
Corporal  Punishment.  These  statements  should  be  compared  with  such 
Talmudic  statements  as  in  Aboth  II,  6  (tr.  Rodkinson,  pp.  4,  56-58) 
where  it  is  asserted  that  a  hasty  (or  passionate)  man  is  unfit  to  teach. 

«*H.  G.  Ellis,  "Origin  and  Development  of  Jewish  Education/' 
Pedagogical  Seminary,  1902,  IX,  58. 


100  EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 


Schools  of  the  Soferim. 

From  earliest  times  it  was  necessary   for  prospective 
Soferim  (scribes)  to  receive  special  professional  training. 
.  .  The  increase,  after  the  Exile,  in  the  functions 

of  the  Soferim,  in  their  numbers,  importance, 
and  in  the  body  of  literature  to  be  mastered  by  them  made 
necessary  prolonged  and  careful  training.  Those  who  were 
called  upon  daily  to  declare  and  administer  the  Law  must 
possess  not  merely  a  superior  knowledge  of  the  Law  itself. 
They  must  know  all  possible  interpretations,  methods  of 
interpretation  and  the  precedents  created  by  former  deci- 
sions and  applications.  In  temple  court  or  in  synagogue, 
noted  scribes  gathered  about  themselves  groups  of  youths 
and  men.  In  time  each  famous  scribe  appears  to  have  had 
his  own  group  or  school.®**  In  some  cases  the  distinctive 
character  of  the  master's  teaching  resulted  in  the  develop- 
ment of  rival  schools,  such  as  those  of  Shammai  and  Hillel.®* 
The  latter's  grandson,  Gamaliel,  it  will  be  recalled,  was  the 
teacher  of  Saul  of  Tarsus.®^ 

In  some  scribe  schools,  Greek  learning  may  have  been 

given  a  place  but  in  all  the  major  part  of  the  time  was  prob- 

/  „    ,.  ably  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  sacred  writ- 

l  Studies.  .  r     1        TT  1  \ 

\  mgs  of  the  Hebrews  and  to  the  memonzmg 

of  the  ever-increasing  mass  of  oral  literature.  This  mass 
of  oral  learning  consisted  of  two  elements, — the'^alakah 
or  legal  element,  and  the  Hagadah  or  non-legal  element. 

The  Halakah  was  composed  chiefly  of  oral  laws  grow- 
ing out  of  the  attempts  of  the  scribes  to  adapt  the  written 
law  to  the  ever-changing  social  and  political  conditions.    In 

®5  In  later  times,  such  a  school  was  commonly  known  as  Beth 
Hammidrash,  but  this  is  a  post-Biblical  term  and  is  consequently 
avoided  in  the  present  account. 

««  Associated  with  (by  tradition,  President  of)  the  Sanhedrin  30 
B.  C    Wm.  Bacher,  "Hillel,"  Enc.  Brit.,  XIII,  467c-d. 

«^  A.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  "Education,"  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  I, 
650d. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  TlII^F^XjJLjEr.  101 

time  these  oral  laws,  decisions  and  interpretavrons  aciqu^red: 

fixed  form  and  with  fixed  form,  sanctity.    Upon  the  basis 

of  Exodus  xxiv.  12  ("I  will  give  thee  tables 

a.  The  Halakah.        .  .  ,       ,,x     •,  .     t    ,■»     ^ 

of  stone  and  a  law  )  it  was  asserted  that 
Moses  had  received  from  Yahweh  upon  Mt.  Sinai,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  written  law,  an  oral  law,  namely,  the  Halakah.*® 
For  many  centuries  the  Halakah  was  forbidden  to  be  written 
and  consequently  must  be  committed  to  memory  by  every 
prospective  scribe.  Every  sentence,  every  word  was  sacred 
and  must  be  memorized  exactly  as  given  by  the  teacher. 
All  possible  interpretations  were  presented  and  discussed. 
Various  methods  of  interpretation  must  be  learned  and  prac- 
tised. 

The  Hagadah  (literally  "narrative")  was  not  distinguish- 
able in  method  from  the  Halakah.    But  whereas  the  Hala-  ^^'^ 

b.  t^  Hagadah  r  kah  was  dcvoted  to  religious  law,  the  Hagadah 
The  Talmud.       included  literature  of  considerable  range  and  -^ 
variety.    Though  much  of  it  was  ethical,  exegetical  or  homi- 
letical,  it  included  as  well  proverbs,  fables,  traditions,  his- 
tory and  science.    In  a  word,  it  embraced  all  topics  except 
the  more  strictly  l^al  elements,  which  might  be  drawn  into 
the  discursive  discussions  of  a  group  of  scholars  seeking  to 
amplify  and  explain  in  a  somewhat  popular  manner  laws, 
institutions  and  customs.    This  oral  literature  developed  into  \\ 
the  two  monumental  encyclopedias,  known  as  the  Jerusal«n -T] 
Talmud  and  the  Babylonian  Talmud.*®  "^ 

The  main  theme  of  the  instruction  given  by  the  Sof erim  1 1 
was  the  oral  law.    Their  instruction  was  consequently  en-| 
^  ^  ^  tirely  oral.     In  order  to  assist  their  pupils  to 

Methods.  .         ,     .  ^    ^ 

retain  their  words,  they  cast  many  of  their 
teachings  in  the  form  of  proverbs,  precepts,  epigrams.  They 

«8  Arthur  Ernest  Cowley,  "Hebrew  Literature,"  Enc.  Brit.,  11th 
ed.,  XIII,  170c-d. 

«»  In  form,  the  Talmud  consists  of  two  parts,— the  Mishna  com- 
piled about  190  A.  D.,  and  the  Gemara  or  Commentary  upon  the 
Mishna,  produced  during  the  next  three  hundred  years  and  compiled 
about  500  A.  D. 


102  ,/?  r /:  J  EDUCATION  in  ancient  israel. 

=\. .?  >' :  c  I^J^sented  ccncreTe  cases,  real  or  imaginary,  to  train  their 
pupils  in  the  application  of  legal  principles.  Parable  and 
allegory  were  employed  for  illustration.  Public  discussions 
between  different  scribes  were  frequently  held.  Upon  Sab- 
baths and  feast-days,  it  was  customary  for  various  scribes 
to  assemble  "on  the  terrace  of  the  temple  and  there  publicly 
to  teach  and  expound,  the  utmost  liberty  being  given  of 
asking  questions,  discussing,  objecting  afid  otherwise  taking 
intelligent  part  in  the  lectures."^®  In  their  groups  of  select 
pupils  as  well  as  in  piiblic  they  made  large  use  of  the  ques- 
tion and  answer  method,  the  pupils  as  well  as  the  master 
asking  questions.^^ 

The  study  and  the  teaching  of  the  Law  were  alike  sacred 
tasks.  The  So ferim  would  have  regarded  charging  fixed 
fees  for  their  services  as  trafficking  in  the 
wisdom  of  the  Most  High.  Those  without 
private  incomes  commonly  supported  themselves  by  some 
craft  or  trade.''^  At  that  time  there  were  no  paid  teachers. 
Delitzsch  writes:  "The  learned,  or  'teachers  of  wisdom,*  as 
they  were  called,  were  thrown  on  the  gratitude  of  their 
scholars  and  their  scholars'  parents,  on  some  consideration 
at  the  distribution  of  the  tithes  for  the  poor,  and  in  certain 

cases  also  on  the  support  from  the  temple  treasury No 

wonder  that  the  pursuit  of  some  remunerative  occupation  in 
connection  with  the  study  of  the  Law  was  held  to  be  most  ad- 
visable. And  this  combination  was  not  only  a  necessary  evil, 
but  to  work  in  the  sweat  of  face  was  also  regarded  a  blessing 
of  healthy  moral  discipline  which  admitted  of  no  substitute."^^ 

TO  Alfred  Edersheim,  In  the  Days  of  Christ,  p.  120. 

Ti  Plumtre  gives  a  number  of  interesting  details,  not  found  in  most 
accounts,  concerning  the  education  of  the  scribe  and  his  admission 
into  the  rank  of  scribes,  see  Edward  Hayes  Plumtre,  "Scribes,"  Wm, 
Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  III,  1167-1168. 

■^2  Franz  Delitzsch,  Jewish  Artisan  Life  in  the  Time  of  Jesus,  (tr. 
by  B.  Pick),  pp.  7Z,  81.  For  a  list  of  the  various  trades  followed  by 
Rabbis,  see  article  on  "Rabbi,"  Jewish  Encyclopedia. 

73  Franz  Delitzsch,  loc,  cit.,  p.  80. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.  103 


FESTIVALS. 

The  great  national  holidays  of  the  Jews  were  national 
holy  days.     Through  them  the  Jews  recognized  their  de^ 

Origin,   Number,  j-'^-^— --  "p^"  ^'-^^   ^^*-  *^^'-  *«iii<-e  ^f  f\^^  jjeld. 

Character.  }q^  the  joys  of  home.  JQj;  deliverance  from 

enemies  and  for  past  and  future  prosperity.  Every  period 
in  Hebrew  history  contributed  its  portion  to  the  heritage 
of  national  festivals.  From,jiqmadism  came  the  Pg^s^v^r- 
ori^inally  a  spring  festival  when  the  firstlings  of  the~flbck 
were  offered  up  to  Yahweh.''*  From  the  agricultural  stage 
came  Pentecost  and  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles. 

The  Jewish  year  included  three  hundred  and  fifty-four 
days.  In  the  period  of  later  Judaism,  more  than  thirty 
Table  of  Festi-  days  in  the  year,  in  addition  to  New  Moons 
^*^*-  and  Sabbaths,  were  devoted  to  ceremonial  ob- 

servances of  some  sort.^**  The  table  on  the  following  page 
shows^*  the  more  important  of  these  feasts,  their  duration 
and  time  of  celebration. 

From  the  standpoint  of  education,  the  significance  of 
the  festivals  was  manifold.  Probably  no  other  factor  in 
Educational  sig-  Jcwish  life  played  a  more  important  part  in 
nificance.  stimulating  and  developing  the  racial  religious 

consciousness,  national  and  individual.    They  formed  a  cycle  . 
of  religious  and  patriotic  revivals  extending  throughout  the 
year.    Through  them  each  new  generation  was  taught  the 
story  of  the  great  religious  and  political  experiences  of  the  > 
race.     Every  religious  festival  was  a  period  of  training  in  Ij 
connection  with  worship ;  in  connection  with  many  of  them 
definite  provision  was  made  for  religious  instruction.  Parents 

.^J*^  ^-  Scares,  The  Social  Institutions  and  Ideals  of  the  Bible,  p. 
173 ;  Exodus  xii. 

^'^  T.  G.  Scares,  The  Social  Institutions  and  Ideals  of  the  Bible,  p. 

I/O. 

7«  Exclusive  of  New  Moons  and  Sabbaths.  The  data  in  this  table 
have  been  compiled  from  various  sources.  See  especially  Elmer  E. 
Harding,  "Feasts  and  Fasts,"  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  I. 


104 


EDUCATION   IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 


were  directed  to  instruct  their  children  in  advance  or  during 
the  celebration  in  the  origin  and  meaning  of  the  festival. 
This  private  instruction  was  frequently  supplemented  by 
instruction  given  in  public  by  priests  and  scribes. 


TABLE  OF  THE  MOST  IMPORTANT  JEWISH  FEASTS  AND 
FESTI  VALS.7« 

POST-MACCABEAN  PERIOD. 


No.  OF 

Jbwish 

Approximate  Current 

Feast 

Days 

Days 

Month 

Calendar  Time 

Passover  T7  or 

Feast  of  Unleavened 

Bread 

From  even- 
ing of   14th 
to  2ist  of 

Nisan 
Nisan 

The  month  of  Nisan  began 

with  the  New  Moon  of  March 

and  extended  to  the  New 

Moon  of  April 

Pentecost  7T 

6th  of 

Siwan 

Siwan  included  part  of  May 
and  part  of  June 

Feast  of  Trumpets 

istof 

Tishri 

Tishri  included  part  of  Sep- 
tember and  part  of  October 

Day  of  Atonement 

(Strictly  a  fast,  not  a 

feast) 

loth 

Feast  of  Tabernacles  77 

15th  to  2ISt 
inclusive 

Tishri 

Shemini  Atzereth 

Eight  or  Day  of 

Conclusion 

» 

22nd 

Tishri 

Feast  of  Dedication 

8 

25th  ff. 

Kislew 

Kislew  included  part  of  Nov- 
ember and  part  of  December 

Purim 

2 

14th  to  15th 

Adar 

Adar   included   parts   of 
February  and  March 

THE  TEMPLE. 

Despite  the  rise  of  the  teaching  order  of  Soferim  and  the 
inultiplication  of  synagogues,  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  never 
/(influence  upon  ccased  to  be  a  national  center  of  religious 
ithe  Synagogue,  education.  Hither  the  people  resorted  to  cele- 
brate the  great  national  festivals  and  here  they  were  trained 
in  forms  of  worship.    Here,  too,  the  carefully  trained  choirs 

'''^  On€  of  the  three  great  annual  feasts. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.  105 

of  Levites  sang  the  national  songs  of  praise  and  in  singing 
them  taught  them  to  the  people.  Indeed  it  was  the  temple, 
according  to  Graetz,  which  furnished  the  pattern  for  the 
service  in  the  thousand  synagogues  scattered  throughout 
Judea  and  the  diaspora.  "The  form  of  prayer  used  in  the 
temple  became  the  model  of  the  services  in  all  prayer-houses 
or  houses  of  gathering."^*  "The  inhabitants  of  the  country 
towns  introduced  in  their  own  congregations  an  exact  copy 
of  the  divine  service  as  it  was  conducted  in  [the  temple  in] 
Jerusalem."^*  More  than  this,  it  was  at  the  hours  of  temple 
worship  that  the  Jews  everywhere  gathered  in  their  local 
synagogues,^**  and  it  was  toward  the  Holy  City  that  every 
Jew,  alone  or  in  the  congregation,  turned  his  face  when  he 
prayed.  The  resemblance  of  the  synagogue  service  to  that 
of  the  temple  will  be  seen  by  comparing  the 

Order  of  Service.  ..  .^         .  .  .     ^  -T    ^,_      r   , 

outlme  of  service  given  above  with  the  fol- 
lowing order  of  the  temple  morning  song  service  which 
followed  the  dawn  sacrifice.®® 

ORDER  OF  TEMPLE  MORNING  PRAYER  AND  SONG  SERVICE. 

1.  Selected  psalms  of  praise  and  thanksgiving. 

2.  Response  by  the  congregation. 

3.  Prayer  and  thanksgiving. 

4.  Reading  of  selections  from  the  Law. 

5.  The  Ten  Commandments. 

6.  The  Shema. 

In  addition  to  the  instruction  and  training  given  through 
the  services,  public  instruction  was  often  given  in  the  temple 
courts.  This  custom,  probably  antedating  the  time  of  Jere- 
miah, was  followed  in  the  days  of  Jesus  and  undoubtedly 
continued  till  the  final  destruction  of  the  temple  in  70  A.  D. 

The  temple  and  its  public  services  were  national  institu- 
tions. "The  temple  was  the  approach  of  the  nation  to  their 
God Its  standard  rites  were  performed  in  the  name  and 

^8  H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jews,  I,  399a. 

T»/HJ.,  401a.  80 /Hd..  399. 


106  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

for  the  sake  of  the  whole  people. . .  .The  Tamid  or  standing 
sacrifice  offered  twice  a  day  on  the  high  altar  was  the  offer- 
ing of  the  nation.  Every  Jew  contributed  to  its  mainte- 
nance.*^ ....  Each  of  its  celebrations  was  attended  by  a 
formal  committee  of  the  nation ....  "®^ 

It  is  not  within  the  purpose  of  the  present  account  to 
enter  upon  a  history  of  the  temple  and  its  varying  fortunes 
nor  to  describe  the  magnificence  of  its  structure  and  of  its 
services.*^  It  arose  aloft  above  the  city  on  its  holy  hill  like 
the  temples  of  Athens.  Here  as  in  Greece,  the  lofty  emi- 
nence and  conspicuousness  of  its  position  contributed  toward 
keeping  it  ever  before  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city.  Every  day  was  ushered  in  by  a  national  sacrifice, 
marked  midway  by  a  second  one  and  closed  with  a  national 
service  of  prayer. 

"After  midnight  the  captain  of  the  temple  together  with 
a  number  of  priests  arose  from  their  beds  and  with  torches 
in  their  hands  went  through  the  temple. ...  to  see  if  every- 
thing was  in  a  state  of  preparation  for  worship  at  the  dawn 
of  day.  As  soon  as  the  watchers  upon  the  temple  ramparts 
could  perceive  in  the  morning  light  the  city  of  Hebron,  the 
signal  was  given :  'the  light  shines  on  Hebron'  and  the  sacri- 
ficial victim  fell  under  the  hand  of  the  priest. 

"Immediately  after  the  immolation  came  a  service  of 
prayer  with  music  and  song.  This  was  followed  by  the 
burning  of  incense  upon  the  golden  altar,  at  which  the 
priestly  blessing  was  pronounced.  The  sacrificing  priest 
then  performed  his  functions  at  the  altar  of  burnt-offering, 
while  the  Levites  sang  psalms,  accompanied  by  the  sound  of 
trumpets.    Two  hours  and  a  half  from  mid-day  the  evening 

*^  By  a  decree  of  the  Council  issued  in  the  reign  of  Salome 
Alexandra,  every  Israelite,  proselytes  and  freed  slaves  included,  v^ras 
required  to  pay  at  least  one  half  shekel  a  year  to  the  support  of  the 
temple.    H.  Graetz,  History  of  the  Jews,  II,  52. 

«2G.  A.  Smith,  Jerusalem:. ..  Jo  70  A.D.,  II,  S22d-523b. 

"3  For  Biblical  descriptions  see  2  Chronicles  xxix.  19-36;  Eccle- 
siasticus  1.  1-21 ;  Ezekiel  xl-xli. 


EDUCATION  IN  SCHOOL  AND  SOCIETY  AFTER  THE  EXILE.  107 

worship  began  with  the  slaughter  of  the  sacrificial  lamb. 
Immediately  after  sunset  the  evening  service  of  prayer  was 
closed."** 

Not  only  was  the  temple  service  fraught  throughout  with 
symbolism,  but  the  structure  and  organization  of  the  temple 
Educational  made  it  a  monumental  object  lesson  teaching 
Significance.  the  hoHuess,  majesty  and  omnipotence  of  Yah- 
weh.  "If  Josephus  be  right,  the  vast  entrance  of  the  porch 
symbolized  heaven;  the  columns  of  the  first  veil,  the  ele- 
ments ;  the  seven  lamps,  the  seven  planets ;  the  twelve  loaves 
of  the  Presence,  the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  and  the  circuit  of 

the  year;  the  altar  of  incense that  God  is  the  possessor 

of  all  things."«5 

The  multitude  of  private  sacrifices  required  of  every 
Jew  resulted  in  making  the  influence  of  the  temple  indi- 
vidual as  well  as  national.  To  visit  Jerusalem  and  worship 
in  the  temple  became  a  life  desire  of  every  Jew.  Thousands 
of  pilgrims  journeyed  thither  each  year.  The  three  great 
annual  festivals,  the  Passover,  the  Pentecost,  the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles  brought  together  Jews  from  all  over  the  world. 
Many  such  returned  home  inspired  and  strengthened  in  their 
faith,  and  better  instructed  in  the  approved  methods  of  re- 
ligious observances.  Thus  through  the  temple  religion  and 
religious  education  were  unified,  standardized  and  national- 
ized. 

The  effect  of  the  temple  service  in  the  first  century  of 
the  Christian  era  upon  a  Hebrew  child  has  been  beautifully 
set  forth  by  Edersheim  and  forms  a  fitting  close  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  educative  influence  of  the  temple. 

"No  one  who  had  ever  worshiped  within  the  courts  of 
Jehovah's  house  at  Jerusalem  could  ever  have  forgotten  the 
scenes  he  had  witnessed  or  the  words  he  had  heard.  Stand- 
ing in  that  gorgeous,  glorious  building,  and  looking  up  its 
terraced  vista,  the  child  would  watch  with  solemn  awe,  not 

8*  Condensed  from  M.  Seidel,  In  the  Time  of  Jesus,  pp.  119-120. 
«5  G.  A.  Smith,  Jerusalem: to  /o  A. D.,  II,  p.  257. 


108  '  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

0  [ 

urimingled  with  wonderment  as  the  great  throng  of  white- 
robed  priests  busily  moved  about,  while  the  smoke  of  the 
sacrifice  rose  from  the  altar  of  bumt-oifering.  Then,  amid 
the  hushed  silence  of  that  vast  multitude,  they  had  all  fallen 
down  to  worship  at  the  time  of  incense.  Again,  on  those 
steps  that  led  up  to  the  innermost  sanctuary  the  priests  had 
lifted  their  hands  and  spoken  over  the  people  the  words  of 
blessing ;  and  then,  while  the  drink-offering  was  poured  out, 
the  Levites'  chant  of  psalms  had  risen  and  swelled  into  a 
mighty  volume ;  the  exquisite  treble  of  the  Levite  children's 
voices  being  sustained  by  the  rich  round  notes  of  the  men, 
and  accompanied  by  instrumental  music.  The  Jewish  child 
knew  many  of  these  words.  They  had  been  the  earliest 
songs  he  had  heard — almost  his  first  lesson  when  clinging 
as  a  *taph'  to  his  mother.  But  now,  in  those  white-marbled, 
gold-adorned  halls,  under  heaven's  blue  canopy,  and  with 
such  surroundings,  they  would  fall  upon  his  ear  like  sounds 
from  another  world,  to  which  the  prolonged  threefold  blasts 
from  the  silver  trumpets  of  the  priests  would  seem  to  waken 
him.  And  they  were  sounds  from  another  world;  for,  as 
his  father  would  tell  him,  all  that  he  saw  was  after  the  exact 
pattern  of  heavenly  things  which  God  had  shown  to  Moses  on 
Mount  Sinai ;  all  that  he  heard  was  God-uttered,  spoken  by 
Jehovah  Himself  through  the  mouth  of  His  servant  David, 
and  of  the  other  sweet  singers  of  Israel."*® 

««  A.  Edersheim,  In  the  Days  of  Christ,  pp.  108-109. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WOMAN  AND  THE  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS. 


WOMAN  AND  THE  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS. 


"House  and  riches  are  an  inheritance  from  fathers; 
But  a  prudent  wife  is  from  Jehovah." 

— Proverbs  xix.  H 

"A  worthy  woman  who  can  find? 
For  her  price  is  far  above  rubies." 

— Proverbs  xxxi.  10. 


Summary  of  Chapter. 

The  evidence  seems  to  point  to  the  fact  that  woman  occupied  a 
relatively  higher  place  in  earlier  than  in  later  times.  For  the  most 
part,  however,  in  and  outside  the  home,  her  place  was  subordinate  to 
that  of  man.  Her  duties  and  her  education  were  distinctly  domestic. 
In  Biblical  times  no  schools  of  any  sort  appear  to  have  been  open  to 
girls  or  women.  Aside  from  the  home,  the  institutions  exerting  an 
educational  influence  upon  girls  and  women  were  the  synagogue,  the 
temple  and  festivals. 

That  woman  held  a  relatively  higher  status  in  earlier 
than  in  later  times  seems  evident  from  the  custom,  then  in 
Woman  in  the  vogue,  of  tracing  the  descent  through  the 
Home  and  in  mother^  and  from  the  part  played  in  public 
Society.  affairs  by  such  women  as  Deborah,^  Jael,^  by 

the  "wise  woman"  of  Tekoa*  and  by  the  wise  woman  of 
Abel.*^  But  even  in  the  period  of  nomadism  woman  was 
■distinctly  a  chattel  and  a  servant,  first  of  her  father  and 

1  The  descent  of  Esau's  children  is  traced  through  their  mothers, 
Gen,  xxxvi.  Abraham  married  Sarah,  the  daughter  of  his  father,  but 
not  of  his  mother.  See  above,  pp.  52  and  55,  paragraphs  on  Rites  of 
Infancy  and  Circumcision  (naming  of  children). 

2  Judges  iv  and  v.  3  Judges  iv.  18-24. 

*  2  Samuel  xiv.  1-23.  5  2  Samuel  xx.  16-22. 


112  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

then  of  her  husband,  who  bought  her  from  her  father. 
Progress  in  civilization  which  brought  an  ever-enlarging  in- 
tellectual sphere  to  man  confined  woman  more  and  more  to 
narrow  fields  of  religious  and  domestic  duties,  and  in  each 
of  these  fields  placed  upon  her  restrictions  which  stamped 
her  as  man's  religious,  intellectual  and  social  inferior. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  when  these  restrictions  began. 

Some  of  them  probably  date  back  to  tribal  days  and  customs. 

Amone  the  most  conspicuous  restrictions  of 

Social  Sutus.        1   ,       ^.  xt-  J  t.        •  r 

later  times  were  those  debarring  women  from 
wearing  the  phylacteries,  from  reciting  the  Shema,  from  en- 
tering the  main  space  of  the  synagogpae.®  Any  consideration 
of  the  religious  restrictions  and  privileges  of  women  must 
take  into  account  the  principle  which  finds  later  development 
in  the  Talmud,  that  women  are  excused  from  fulfilling  all 
positive  commandments  the  fulfilment  of  which  depends  on 
a  fixed  time  or  season.  The  reason  for  the  exemption  is 
obvious.  Woman,  on  account  of  domestic  and  physical  con- 
ditions, would  at  certain  times  be  incapacitated  for  per- 
forming rites  the  observance  of  which  is  dependent  upon  a 
particular  time. 

Peritz  maintains  that  these  restrictions  we^e  distinctly 
a  later  development.  He  writes :  "The  Hebrews ....  in  the 
earlier  periods  of  their  history,  exhibit  no  tendency  to  dis- 
criminate between  man  and  woman  so  far  as  regards  partici- 
pation in  religious  practices,  but  woman  participates  in  all 
the  essentials  of  the  cult,  both  as  worshiper  and  official ;  only 
in  later  time,  with  the  progress  in  the  development  of  the 
cult  itself,  a  tendency  appears,  not  so  much,  however,  to 
exclude  woman  from  the  cult,  as  rather  to  make  man  prom- 
inent in  it."^ 

«  Carl  H.  Comill,  The  Culture  of  Ancient  Israel,  p.  99. 

''I.  J.  Peritz,  "Woman  in  the  Ancient  Hebrew  Cult,"  Journal  of 
Biblical  Literature,  XVII,  114d.  Peritz  opposes  the  commonly  ac- 
cepted views  of  Stade,  Benziger,  Nowack  and  others.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  the  evidence  he  presents  will  be  considered  convincing  at  all 
points. 


WOMAN  AND  THE  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS.  113 

Even  if  Peritz's  view  be  accepted,  the  fact  remains  that 
in  the  home  as  well  as  in  the  synagogue  the  position  of 
woman  was  a  subordinate  one.  The  father  was  given  the 
chief  place  in  religious  services  and  rites.  The  training  and 
instruction  of  the  sons  from  their  earliest  years  were  in  his 
hands.  The  mother  might  assist  in  the  education  of  the  sons 
but  only  as  a  subordinate ;  her  primary  duties  were  the  edu- 
Dauehters  cation  of  the  members  of  the  inferior  sex,  her 

Less  Esteemed  daughters,  and  the  care  of  her  household, 
than  Sons.  Daughters  were  less  esteemed  and  less  wel- 

come than  sons:  "In  the  Talmud  we  find  three  times  the 
saying:  'Well  to  him  whose  children  are  boys,  woe  to  him 
whose  children  are  girls.'  In  the  Old  Testament  there  is 
Reverence  and  "othing  like  this  directly  expressed,  but  with- 
Respect  for  out  doubt  this  is  what  the  Israelite  of  old 
Women.  thought."®    It  must  not  be  supposed,  however, 

that  love  and  respect  were  lacking.  Many  passages  reveal 
the  love  and  tenderness  in  which  wife  and  mother  were 
held.  A  loving  wife  is  declared  to  be  a  gift  from  Yahweh,® 
and  a  worthy  woman  is  more  precious  than  rubies.^®  To 
express  the  highest  degree  of  sadness  the  poet  writes,  "I 
Ideal  of  bowed  down  mourning,  as  one  that  bewaileth 

womanhbod.  his  mother.""  The  following  extract  from 
Proverbs  xxxi  contains  the  most  complete  formulation  of 
the  ancient  Hebrew  ideal  of  womanhood.^'' 

"A  worthy  woman  who  can  find? 
For  her  price  is  far  above  rubies. 

"The  heart  of  her  husband  truSteth  in  her, 
And  he  shall  have  no  lack  of  gain. 

*  C.  H.  Cornill,  The  Culture  of  Ancient  Israel,  p.  97a. 
®  Proverbs  xix.  14. 

10  Ihid.,  xxxi.  10. 

11  Psalms  XXXV.  14;  C.  H.  Cornill,  The  Culture  of  Ancient  Israel, 
p.  93. 

12  Proverbs  xxxi.  10-31. 


114  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 


"She  doth  him  good  and  not  evil 
All  the  days  of  her  life. 

"She  seeketh  wool  and  flax 
And  worketh  willingly  with  her  hands. 

"She  is  like  the  merchant-ships; 
She  bringeth  her  food  from  afar. 

"She  riseth  also  while  it  is  yet  night, 
And  giveth  food  to  her  household, 
And  their  task  to  her  maidens. 

"She  considereth  a  field,  and  buyeth  it: 
With  the  fruit  of  her  hands  she  planteth  a  vineyard. 

"She  girdeth  her  loins  with  strength, 
And  maketh  strong  her  arms. 

"She  perceiveth  that  her  merchandise  is  profitable ; 
Her  lamp  goeth  not  out  by  night. 

"She  layeth  her  hands  to  the  distaff, 
And  her  hands  hold  the  spindle. 

"She  spreadeth  out  her  hand  to  the  poor ; 
Yea,  she  reacheth  forth  her  hands  to  the  needy. 

"She  is  not  afraid  of  the  snow  for  her  household ; 
For  all  her  household  are  clothed  with  scarlet. 

"She  maketh  for  herself  carpets  of  tapestry; 
Her  clothing  is  fine  linen  and  purple.  , 

"Her  husband  is  known  in  the  gates, 
When  he  sitteth  among  the  elders  of  the  land. 

"She  maketh  linen  garments  and  selleth  them; 
And  delivereth  girdles  unto  the  merchant. 

"Strength  and  dignity  are  her  clothing; 
And  she  laugheth  at  the  time  to  come. 

"She  openeth  her  mouth  with  wisdom ; 
And  the  law  of  kindness  is  on  her  tongue. 

"She  looketh  well  to  the  ways  of  her  household, 
And  eateth  not  the  bread  of  idleness. 


WOMAN  AND  THE  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS.  115 

"Her  children  rise  up,  and  call  her  blessed; 
Her  husband  also,  and  he  praiseth  her,  saying: 

"Many  daughters  have  done  worthily, 
But  thou  excellest  them  all. 

"Grace  is  deceitful,  and  beauty  is  vain : 
But  a  woman  that  feareth  Jehovah,  she  shall  be  praised. 

"Give  her  of  the  fruit  of  her  hands ; 
And  let  her  works  praise  her  in  the  gates." 

In  the  above  passage,  the  home  is  represented  as  woman's 
highest  sphere.  There  is  not  the  slightest  hint  of  the  recog- 
nition of  any  need  for  higher  intellectual  development.  This 
is  all  the  more  significant  as  the  passage  belongs  to  the  Greek 
period.  The  most  extolled  virtues  of  the  woman  here  de- 
scribed are  piety,  mercy,  industry,  foresight,  thrift,  sound 
practical  judgment  and  devotion  to  her  husband's  interests. 
She  spins  and  weaves  wool,  linen,  silk  and  tapestry.  She 
carries  on  commercial  enterprises  such  as  buying  a  field 
and  selling  linen  garments.  She  superintends  her  house- 
hold and  is  devout  in  the  performance  of  her  religious  duties. 

The  home  was  par  excellence  the  institution  where  girls 
received  their  education.  The  schools,  elementary  and  higher, 
Educational  were  Open  to  boys  and  men  only.  In  some 
nstitutions.  instances  girls  may  have  received  advanced  in- 
struction through  private  lessons  given  in  the  home,  but  if 
such  cases  occurred  at  all  they  were  undoubtedly  rare. 
Festivals,  the  temple  and  the  synagogue  were  the  chief  in- 
stitutions which  exerted  an  educative  influence  upon  girls 
and  women  outside  the  home.  Although  women  were  not 
counted  as  members  of  the  synagogue  and  were  not  per- 
mitted to  lead  in  any  of  its  services,  nevertheless  they  were 
zealous  attendants  at  its  services.  Many  recorded  incidents 
bear  witness  to  the  familiarity  of  the  Jewish  women  with  the 
Scriptures.  The  term  mater  synagogae  appears  as  a  title 
of  honor  beside  the  term  pater  synagogae  among  inscrip- 
tions found  in  southern  Italy.^^ 

13  W.  Bacher,  "Synagogue,"  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  IV,  640b. 


116  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 


L 


Woman's  chief  functions  were  to  honor  God,  care  for 
er  home,  train  her  children,  serve  and  please  her  husband. 

IAim  and  Content  The  aim  of  girls'  education  was  to  produce 
of  Education.  efficient  and  industrious  home-makers,  obe- 
dient, virtuous,  godfearing  wives  and  daughters.  The  de- 
tails of  girls'  education  varied  from  generation  to  generation 
with  changes  in  habitat,  modes  of  living,  social  and  religious 
institutions  and  laws,  but  the  principles  determining  its  scope 
and  limits  were  to  a  large  extent  unchanging.  From  earliest 
1^ times  it  included  domestic  duties,  music,  dancing,  industrial 
j  occupations,  religion,  manners  and  morals.  The  importance 
»of  many  of  these  activities  and  the  nature  and  method  of 
the  instruction  and  training  has  been  sufficiently  set  forth 
in  preceding  paragraphs  to  make  any  further  presentation 
here  unnecessary.  The  sex  division  of  labor  and  the  ex- 
clusion of  women  from  many  religious  duties  and  respon- 
sibilities resulted  in  many  differences  in  the  education  of 
boys  and  girls.  The  domestic  and  industrial  occupations  of 
girls  and  women  included  cooking,  spinning,  weaving,  dye- 
ing, caring  for  flocks,  guarding  vineyards,  gathering  har- 
vests, grinding  grain,  caring  for  children  and  managing 
slaves. 

Later  times  added  in  some  cases  at  least  reading,  writing 
and  enough  knowledge  of  reckoning,  weights,  measures  and 
money  to  enable  the  prospective  wife  to  carry  on  the  busi- 
ness of  her  household.  It  is  impossible  to  state  how  early 
and  to  what  extent  a  knowledge  of  the  three  R's  became 
prevalent.  The  fact  that  Queen  Jezebel  is  stated  to  have 
written  letters  in  Ahab's  name  to  the  elders  of  Naboth's 
village^*  might  seem  an  argument  for  a  knowledge  of  these 
arts  by  the  women  of  the  monarchical  period.  But  as  has 
already  been  pointed  out,  Jezebel  may  have  employed  a 
scribe,  and  the  facts  that  she  was  a  queen  and  that  she  was 
a  foreigner,  a  Phoenician,  forbid  any  general  inferences. 

1*  1  Kings  xxi.  8. 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

The  following  brief  bibliography  has  been  selected  with  a  view  to 
meeting  the  needs  and  interests  of  the  general  reader.  It  has  been 
felt  that  the  accounts  in  such  general  histories  of  education  as  fTom- 
payre,  Graves,  Laurie,  Monroe  are  too  well  known  to  call  for  their 
inclusion  here.  Owing  to  the  limit  set  to  the  present  account  only  a 
few  works  dealing  with  post-Biblical  times  are  given.  Roman  nu- 
merals (unless  preceded  by  the  abbreviation  Chap.)  indicate  the 
number  of  the  volume  referred  to;  arabic  numerals  refer  to  pages; 
the  small  letters,  a,  b,  c  and  d,  refer  to  the  first,  second,  third  and 
last  quarter  of  the  page,  e.  g.,  I,  24d  means  Vol.  I,  p.  24,  last  quarter 
of  the  page. 

I.  SOURCES. 

The  Holy  Bible,  Containing  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  (American 
Revised  Version),  New  York,  1898. 

Apocrypha,  2  vols.,  edited  by  Henry  Wace,  D.D.,  London,  1888.  [Es- 
pecially Ecclesiasticue  and  the  Books  of  the  Maccabees.] 

The  Babylonian  Talmud,  edited  by  M.  L.  Rodkinson,  11  vols.,  New 
York,  1900.  [Not  a  satisfactory  translation  but  the  only  Eng- 
lish text  available.] 

II.  GENERAL  HISTORIES  AND  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES 
OF  THE  JEWS. 

Barton,  George  Aaron,  A  Sketch  of  Semitic  Origins,  Social  and  Re- 
ligious, New  York,  1902. 

Cornill,  C.  H.  History  of  the  People  of  Israel,  4th  ed.,  Chicago,  1909. 

Cook,  Stanley  Arthur,  Old  Testament  History  in  article  on  "Pales- 
tine," The  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  Hth  ed.,  XX,  605c-617b. 

Ewald,  Georg  Heinrich  August,  The  History  of  Israel  (tr.  from  the 
German),  8  vols.,  London,  1878-86. 

Graetz,  H.,  Geschichte  der  Juden  von  den  dltesten  Zeiten  bis  auf  die 


120  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

Gegenwart,  11  vols.,  Leipsic,  1870-88.  [New  edition  begun 
1911.] 
Graetz,  H.,  History  of  the  Jews,  From  the  Earliest  Times  to  1870, 
6  vols.,  Philadelphia,  1891-98.  [Not  merely  a  translation  of  the 
author's  German  work,  but  a  revision  and  an  extension,  see  I, 
p.  vi.  VI  contains  complete  Index  and  Tables.  Footnotes  are 
omitted  in  the  English  work.] 

Hommel,  Fritz,  The  Civilisation  of  the  East,  (tr.  from  the  German 
by  J.  H.  Loewe),  London,  1900. 

Hosmer,  J.  K.,  The  Jews  in  Ancient,  MedicBval  and  Modern  Times, 

New  York  and  London,  1889. 
Kent,  Charles  Foster,  A  History  of  the  Hebrew  People,  New  York, 

1896. 

Kent,  Charles  Foster,  Narratives  of  the  Beginnings  of  Hebrew  His- 
tory, New  York,  1904. 

Kent,  Charles  Foster,  IsraeVs  Historical  and  Biographical  Narratives 
New  York,  1905. 

Kent,  Charles  Foster,  The  Sermons,  Epistles  and  Apocalypses  of 
Israel's  Prophets,  New  York,  1910. 

Kent,  Charles  Foster,  Biblical  Geography  and  History,  New  York, 

1911. 
McCurdy,  James  Frederick,  History,  Prophecy  and  the  Monuments, 

3  vols.,  New  York  and  London,  1894-1901. 

Olmstead,  A.  T.,  Western  Asia  in  the  Days  of  Sargon  of  Assyria^ 
722-705  B.  C,  A  Study  in  Oriental  History,  New  York,  1908. 

Ottley,  R.  L.,  A  Short  History  of  the  Hebrews  to  the  Roman  Period, 
New  York,  1901. 

I'eritz,  Ismar  J.,  Old  Testament  History,  New  York,  1915. 

Renan,  Joseph  Ernest,  History  of  the  People  of  Israel,  5  vols.,  (tr. 

from  the  French  by  J.  H.  Allen  and  E.  W.  Latimer),  Boston, 

1889-96. 

Sayce,  Archibald  Henry,  Light  from  Ancient  Monuments,  10th  im- 
pression, London,  1909.  [Always  interesting  but  to  be  used 
with  caution.] 

Schiirer,  Emil,  History  of  the  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of  Jesus 
Christ,  5  vols.,  2d  ed..  New  York,  1891. 

Smith,  Henry  Preserved,  Old  Testament  History,  New  York,  1906. 
Wellhausen,  J.,  Sketch  of  the  History  of  Israel  and  Judah,  3d  ed., 
London.  1891. 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY.  121 


III.    DISTINCTLY  EDUCATIONAL  TREATISES. 

Blach-Gudensberg,  Das  Pddagogische  im  Talmud,  Halberstadt,  1881. 

[A  lecture,  26  pages.] 
Cheyne,  T.  K.,  and  Black,  J.  S.,  Articles  on  "Education"  and  on 

"Government,"  Encyclopcsdia  Biblica. 
Cornill,  Carl  Heinrich,  The  Culture  of  Ancient  Israel,  (tr.  from  the 

German  by  various  writers),  Chicago,  1914.     [Especially  "The 

Education  of  Children  in  Ancient  Israel,"  pp.  68-100.] 
Edersheim,  Alfred,  In  the  Days  of  Christ :  Sketches  of  Jewish  Socio) 

Life,  New  York,  1876.     [Chapters  VI-VIII  deal  specifically 

with  education  and  related  topics.] 
Ellis,  A.  C,  "Growth  of  the  Sunday  School  Idea,"  Ped.  Seminary, 

1896,  III,  375-377. 
Ellis,  G.  Harold,  "Origin  and  Development  of  Jewish  Education," 

Ped.  Seminary,  1902,  IX,  50-62. 
Ellis,  G.  Harold,  "The  Pedagogy  of  Jesus,"  Ped.  Seminary,  1902,  IX, 

441-459. 
Giidemann,  M.,  Quellenschriften  zur  Geschichte  des  Unterrichts  und 

der  Erziehung  bet  den  deutschen  Juden.     Von  den  altesten, 

Zeiten  his  Mendelssohn,  Berlin,  1891. 
Guttmann,  J.,  Die  Scholastik  des  XIII.  Jahrhunderts  in  ihren  Be- 

ziehungen  zum  Judentum  und  zur  jiidischen  Liter atur,  Breslau, 

1902. 

Imber,  N.  H.,  Education  and  the  Talmud,  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Com- 
missioner of  Education,  1894-95,  II,' 1795-1820.  [Interesting 
but  not  reliable.] 

Imber,  N.  H.,  The  Letters  of  Rabbi  Akibah,  or  The  Jewish  Primer 
Tzvo  Thousand  Years  Ago,  Report  of  the  U.  S.  Commis- 
sioner of  Education,  1895-96,  I,  701-719. 

Kandel,  Isaac  L.,  and  Grossmann,  Louis,  "Jewish  Education,  Ancient, 
Mediaeval,  Modern,"  Monroe's  Cyclopedia  of  Education,  III, 
542-553. 

Kennedy,  A.  R.  S.,  "Education,"  Hastings'  Bible  Dictionary,  I,  646b- 
652a. 

Kent,  Charles  Foster,  The  Great  Teachers  of  Judaism  and  Christian- 
ity, Boston  and  Chicago,  1911. 

Kohler,  Gudemann,  Deutsch  and  Jacobs,  (joint  authors),  "Educa- 
tion," The  Jewish  Encyclopedia,  V,  42a-48c. 


122  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

Leipziger,  H.  M.,  Education  Among  the  Jews,  New  York,  1890,  (= 
Vol.  Ill,  No.  6  of  Educational  Monographs,  published  by  the 
New  York  College  for  the  Training  of  Teachers).  [This 
monograph  is  mainly  an  adaptation  of  Dr.  Samuel  Marcus's 
essay  "Zur  Schulpadagogik  des  Talmud."] 

Levy,  Clifton  H.,  "Education  Among  the  Ancient  Hebrews,"  Educa- 
tion, XVII,  457-462.  [Too  general  to  be  of  much  value.  Prone 
to  moralizing  for  the  benefit  of  modern  educators.] 

Lewit,  J.,  Darstellung  der  theoretischen  und  praktischen  Pddagogik 
im  jiidischen  Alter tume  nach  dem  Talmud.    Berlin,  1896. 

Marcus,  Samuel,  Die  Pddagogik  des  israelitischen  Volkes:  Part  I, 
"Die  Bibel  ein  Buch  der  Erziehung";  Part  II,  "Zur  Schul- 
padagogik des  Talmud,"  2  vols.,  Vienna,  1877. 

Raphall,  Morris  J.,  "Education  Among  the  Hebrews,  An  Introduc- 
tory Sketch,"  Barnard's  American  Journal  of  Education,  1856, 
I,  243-246.    [Too  brief  to  be  of  much  value.    Uncritical.] 

Schechter,  Solomon,  Studies  in  Judaism,  First  Series,  chapter  on 
"The  Child  in  Jewish  Literature,"  Philadelphia,  1911. 

Simon,  Joseph,  L'education  et  instruction  des  enfants  chez  les  an- 
ciens  Juifs  d'apris  la  Bible  et  le  Talmud,  Leipsic,  1879. 

Spiers,  B.,  School  System  of  the  Talmud,  London,  1898. 

Strassburger,  B.,  Geschichte  der  Erziehung  und  des  Unterrichts  bei 
den  Israeliten,  von  der  vortalmudischen  Zeit  bis  auf  die  Gegen- 
wart.    Bibliographie  der  jiidischen  Pddagogik,  Breslau,  1885. 

Wiesen,  J.,  Geschichte  und  Methodik  des  Schulwesens  im  talmudi- 
schen  Alter  tume,  Strassburg,  1892. 


IV.  MISCELLANEOUS  SECONDARY  AUTHORITIES 

DEALING  WITH  VARIOUS  ASPECTS  OF  JEWISH  LIFE. 

Abbot,  G.  R,  Israel  in  Europe,  New  York  and  London,  1907. 
Abrahams,  Israel,  Jewish  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,   (chapters  on 

Games  and  the  Theater),  New  York  and  London,  1896. 
Askowith,  D.,  The  Toleration  and  Persecution  of  the  Jews  in  the 

Roman  Empire,  New  York,  1915. 
Baudissin,  Wolf  Wilhelm,   Graf,  Die  Geschichte  des  alttestament- 

lichen  Priestertums,  Leipsic,  1889. 
Baudissin,  Wolf,  "Priests  and  Levites,"  Hastings^  Bible  Dictionary, 

IV,  67-97. 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY.  123 

Benny,  P.  B.,  Criminal  Code  of  the  Jews  According  to  the  Talmud, 
London,  1880. 

Briggs,  Charles  Augustus,  The  Higher  Criticism  of  the  Hexateuch, 

New  York,  1897. 
Briggs,  Charles  Augustus,  General  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Holy 

Scripture,  New  York,  1899. 
Buhl,  Frants  Peder  William,  "Feasts  and  Festivals,"  The  New  Schaff- 

Herzog  Encyclopedia  of  Religious  Knowledge,  IV,  287c-289b. 

Cheyne,  T.  K.,  Jewish  Religious  Life  After  the  Exile,  New  York  and 
London,  1901. 

Cornill,  C.  H.,  Prophets  of  Israel,  (tr.  by  S.  F.  Corkran),  Chicago. 
1895. 

Crozier,  John  Beattie,  History  of  Intellectual  Development  on  the 
Lines  of  Modern  Evolution,  2  vols.,  London,  1897-1901.  [Es- 
pecially Part  III,  "The  Evolution  of  Judaism,"  Chaps.  II,  IV, 
V,  VL] 

Davidson,  A.  B.,  Old  Testament  Prophecy,  edited  by  J.  A.  Paterson, 

Edinburgh,  1904. 
Day,  Edward,  The  Social  Life  of  the  Hebrews,  New  York,  1901. 

["The  best  single  book  in  English  covering  the  whole  subject."] 
Delitzsch,  Franz  Julius,  Jewish  Artisan  Life  in  the  Time  of  Jesus 

According  to  Oldest  Sources,  (tr.  by  B.  Pick),  New  York,  1885. 

Doughty,  C.  M.,  Travels  in  Arabia  Deserta,  2  vols.,  Cambridge  (Eng- 
land), 1909.    [Very  valuable  for  local  color.] 

Driver,  S.  R.,  An  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the  Old  Testch 
ment.  New  York,  1914. 

Drew,  G.  S.,  "On  the  Social  and  Sanitary  Laws  of  Moses,"  Content 
porary  Review,  1866,  II  (May  to  August),  514-534. 

Duflf,  Archibald,  The  Theology  and  Ethics  of  the  Hebrews,  New 
York,  1902. 

Edersheim,  Alfred,  In  the  Days  of  Christ :  Sketches  of  Jewish  Social 

Life,  New  York,  1876. 
Engel,  C,  Music  of  the  Most  Ancient  Nations,  Particularly  of  the 

Assyrians,  Egyptians  and  Hebrews,  London,  1864. 

Fenton,  John,  Early  Hebrew  Life,  A  Study  in  Sociology,  London, 
1880. 

Fleury,  Claude,  Manners  of  Ancient  Israelites,  New  York,  1837. 
Hinsdale,  B.  A.,  Jesus  as  a  Teacher  and  the  Making  of  the  New 
Testament,  St.  Louis,  1895. 


124  EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 

Jevons,  Frank  Byron,  An  Introduction  to  the  History  of  Religion, 
6th  ed.,  London,  1914. 

Landau,  Richard,  Geschichte  der  jUdischen  Aerzte,  Berlin,  1895. 

Maimon,  Solomon,  An  Autobiography,  (tr.  by  J.  C  Murray),  Boston, 
1888. 

Margoliouth,  G.,  "Games  Hebrew  and  Jewish,"  Hastings^  Encyclo- 
pedia of  Religion  and  Ethics,  VI,  171d-175b. 

Marsden,  J.  B.,  The  Influence  of  the  Mosaic  Code  Upon  Subsequent 
Legislation,  London,  1862. 

Montefiore,  C.  G.,  "Lectures  on  the  Origin  and  Growth  of  Religion 
as  Illustrated  by  the  Religion  of  the  Ancient  Hebrews,"  Hib- 
bert  Lectures,  1892,  3d  ed.,  London,  1897. 

Peritz,  I.  J.,  "Woman  in  the  Ancient  Hebrew  Cult,"  lournal  of  Bib- 
lical Literature,  1898,  XVII,  111-148. 

Renan,  Ernest,  Averroes  et  VAverroisme,  essai  historique,  3d  ed., 
Paris,  1866. 

Rosenau,  William,  Jewish  Ceremonial  Institutions  and  Customs,  2d 
ed.,  Baltimore,  1912. 

Ruppin,  Arthur,  The  Jews  of  Today,  (tr.  from  the  German  by 
Margery  Bentwich),  New  York,  1913. 

Sayce,  Archibald  Henry,  The  Archceology  of  the  Cuneiform  Inscrip- 
tions, London,  1908. 

Schechter,  Solomon,  Studies  in  Judaism,  2  vols.,  Philadelphia,  1908 
and  1911. 

Schenk,  F.  S.,  The  Sociology  of  the  Bible,  New  York.  1909. 

Seidel,  Martin,  In  the  Time  of  Jesus,  New  York,  1885. 

Singer,  S.,  Annotated  Edition  of  the  Authorized  Daily  Prayer-Book 
with  Historical  and  Explanatory  Notes,  annotated  by  Israel 
Abrahams,  London,  1914. 

Smith,  George  Adam,  The  Historical  Geography  of  the  Holy  Land, 
3d  ed..  New  York,  1895. 

Smith,  George  Adam,  Jerusalem:  The  Topography,  Economics  and 
History  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  70  A.  D.,  2  vols.,  London, 
1908. 

Smith,  William  Robertson,  Kinship  and  Marriage  in  Early  Arabia, 
London,  1903. 


SELECTED  BIBLIOGRAPHY.  125 

Smith,  W.  R.,  The  Prophets  of  Israel  and  Their  Place  in  History  to 
the  Close  of  the  Eighth  Century  B.  C,  London,  1907.  ["Most 
English  books  on  the  subject  are  more  theological  than  histor- 
ical, but  a  sketch  of  Hebrew  prophecy  in  connection  with  the 
history  down  to  the  close  of  the  eighth  century  is  given  by 
W.  R.  Smith."] 

Soares,  Theodore  Gerald,  The  Social  Institutions  and  Ideals  of  the 
Bible,  New  York,  1915. 

Von  Dobschiitz,  Ernst,  The  Influence  of  the  Bible  on  Civilization, 
New  York,  1914. 

Yellin,  D.,  and  Abrahams,  I.,  Maimonides,  Philadelphia,  1903. 


INDEX. 


INDEX. 


Abel,  referred  to,  iii. 
Abimelech,  referred  to,  8. 
Abraham,   72. 
Adolescence,    S5-6o. 
Age,  old,  reverenced,  67,  68. 
Age,  school,  95. 
Agricultural  occupations,  8. 
Agricultural   festivals,    103. 
Ahab's  sons,  referred  to,  22. 
Aim  of  education,  girls',  116. 

See  also  Ideals;   Incentives. 
Alexander  the  Great,  43,  81. 
Alexander  Janneus,  referred  to,  92. 
Alexandra,  Queen,  referred  to,  92. 
Allegories,   102. 
Amos,  referred  to,  36. 
Anger,   69-70. 

Antiochus  IV,  referred  to,   79. 
Apprenticeship,  61. 
Arabia,  trade  with,    10. 
Aramaic,  81. 
Arba  Kanfot,  57. 
Archelaus,  referred  to,  44. 
Ark,  88. 

Assyrian  conquest,    11. 
Ancestor-iVorship,    13. 
Anthropomorphic    conception   of   Yah- 

weh,   15. 
Arts,  origin,  8, 
Athletics,  24. 
Atonement,  Day  of,   104. 
Augustus,   referred  to,  44. 

Baal,  worship  of,  14. 

Babylonian  Exile,   see  Exile. 

Bar  Miswah,  58-59. 

Bards,  as  teachers,  25. 

Baruch,  referred  to,  32. 

Bema,   87. 

Benedictions:  bar  mizwah,  59;  chil- 
dren's, 64  note  73;  in  synagogue, 
88,  89,  90. 


Benjamin,    tribe    of,    under    Saul,    9; 

under  Rehoboam,   10. 
Beth-El,  referred  to,  35. 
Bibliography,  1 19-125. 
Biography,   67. 
Birthday,   59. 
Blood-ties,    10. 
Boasting,  69. 
Book    of    Instruction,    14-15,    20    and 

note  2. 
Books  of  law,  27  and  note  27. 
Books  of  prophets,  27  and  note  29. 
Breast  feeding,   55. 
Brotherhood  of  man,    15. 

Csesar,  44, 

Canaanites,  influence  on  Israelites,  7-8. 

Canon,  evolution,  26-27;   adoption,  86. 
'Ceremonies,    see    Festivals;    Order    of 
Service;    Rites;    Ritual. 

Chariot-driving,   24. 

Children,  desired,  49;  slave  status,  51; 
naturally  wayward,  52-53;  life  pe- 
riods, 54.  See  also  Adolescence; 
Religious  consciousness,  63-64;  be- 
long  to. God,  59. 

Christianity,    debt   to    Hebraism,    4. 
See  also  Jesus. 

Circumcision,  55-56.  See  also  Bar 
ntiswah. 

City>  see   Municipal  organizations. 

Civic  instruction,   34. 

Classes,  size,  95. 

Commercial   education,   61. 

Commerce,  effect  on  education,  29. 

Composition,  taught  to  prophets,  37. 

Compulsory  education,   86,   92-95. 

Conceit,  69. 

Conquest,   the,   7-8. 

Consecration,   78. 

Conversation,   69-70. 

Corporal  punishment,  53,  99. 


130 


EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 


Courtesy,    lessons  in,    68,    72. 

See  also  Manners. 
Courts,  instruction  in,  Z7- 
Creed,  see  Shema. 
Curiosity,  71. 
Curriculum,    post- Exilic,    outline,    60; 

elementary,    96-98;    higher,    loo-ioi. 
Cyrus,  referred  to,  42. 

Dancing,    patriotic    and   religious,    24, 

25;  prophetic,  36;  post- Exilic,  61-62; 

girls  taught,   116. 
Daphne,   Egypt,   referred  to,   46  note 

10. 
Darius,  referred  to,  43. 
Daughters,    52,    53.      See   also   Girls; 

Sex;  Woman. 
David,  reign  of,  9-10;  national  ideal, 

20;    knowledge   of  writing,    28,    29; 

referred  to,  108. 
Death  penalty,  51. 
Deborah,  referred  to,    iii. 
Dedication,  Feast  of,  104. 
Delitzsch,  quoted,   102. 
Democracy,    44-45. 
Derashah,   89-90. 
Diaspora,   46. 
Dionysus,  rites  of,  45. 
Discipline,    at    home,    51,    52,    53;    lax 

in  school,  95. 
Disobedience,   capital  punishment,    51. 
Dispersion,  44,  46. 
Disputations,  scholarly,   102. 
Divination,    33,    34-35. 
Dramatic  method,  27. 

Ecclesiasticus,  on  table  manners,  71; 
on  the  scribe,  82;    as  textbook,  98. 

Edersheim,  cited,  54;  quoted,  107-108. 

Education,  institutionalized,  76;  uni- 
versal, 86-89,   90.  9I-95- 

Elders,  81. 

Elementary  schools,    see   Schools. 

Elephantine,  Egypt,  referred  to,  46 
note  10. 

Elijah,   referred  to,   35. 

Elisha,   referred  to,  35. 

Environment,  12-13;  moral  influence, 
30. 

Epigrams,   by  Soferim,    10 1. 

Esther,   read,  65. 

Exile,  the,  11,  41-42;  educational 
products,  87,   91. 

Exposition,  89. 


Ezekiel,  referred  to,   42. 
Ezra,  27,  81  and  note  12. 

Fables,  taught,   25. 

Family,  as  educative  institution,  2iflf, 

49-54.  62-72,  96. 
Family  festivals,  59,  64-66. 
Family,    woman's    sphere,     115.      See 

also  Mother;  Woman. 
Fast-days,  88. 
Father,  as  teacher,  23,  60,  66,  95,  108; 

as  priest,  32,  113;  authority,  51,  59; 

names  children,  55;  reverenced,  67. 

See  also  Parents. 
Fatherhood  of  God,    12  note  23,    15. 

See  also  Yahweh. 
Festivals,    seasons   of   instruction,    64- 

66,   103-104;  songs,  24;  directed  by 

priests,    34;    synagogue   service,   88; 

influence,    107, 
First-born,  education,  22]  redemption, 

54- 
Flute.  24,  25. 
Foreign   influence,    ir,    13,   41-44. 

See  also  Exile,  Hellenism. 
Fringes,    57. 

Gamala's  school  law,  91. 

Gamaliel,  referred  to,    100. 

Games,  24. 

Gemara,  10 1  note  69. 

Gideon,  referred  to,  8,  28. 

Gilgal,   referred  to,   35. 

Girls,  attitude  toward,  113;  education, 
II 5-1 16. 

Gluttony,  71. 

God,  see  Yahweh. 

Graetz,  quoted,  22,  77-78. 

Greek  period,  43;  religion,  45;  vernac- 
ular,  81.      See  also   Hellenism. 

Grossmann,  cited,  93-94. 

Gudemann,   cited,    93-94. 

Guild,  teachers',  81. 

Hagadah,    1 00-101. 

Hakhamim,    81. 

Halakah,    1 00-101 

Hallel,   98. 

Hannah,   referred  to,   49. 

Hassan,   81,   96. 

Hebraism,  influence  upon  Christian- 
ity, 4- 

Hebrew,  study  of,  81,  96. 

Hellenism,   43,   45,   46,   78,   79. 
See  also  Greek  period. 


INDEX. 


131 


Henotheism,    13. 

Herod,   referred  to,   44. 

Hezekiah,  referred  to,  37. 

Hierocracy,  44-45- 

High  priest,  45. 

Hillel,  referred  to,  100. 

History,    priestly,    34;    prophetic,    36 

note  64;  teught,  341  3<S  note  64,  67, 

98. 
Holiness,  as  ideal,  62;   symbolized  by 

Temple,    107. 
Home,   see   Family. 
Hosea,  referred  to,  36. 
Hospitality,  68,  72. 
Humility,  69. 
Hyrcanus,  referred  to,  93. 

Ideals,     educational,     pre-Exilic,     20; 

Moses,    69;    the    scribe,    78,    82-83; 

woman,    113-115. 
Incentives  to  study,  90,  99.     See  also 

Motives. 
Incorrigibles,    death  penalty,    51,    52. 
Industrial    occupations,     23,    82-83; 

teachers',  96,   102;  woman's,   11 4* 

115. 
Industrial   training,   boys',    23,   6o-6i; 

girls',    115-116. 
Infancy,  meaning,    54;   education,   62- 

63,  64,  65,  96,  97- 
Infanticide,    51. 

Institutionalization  of  education,  76. 
Instruction,  Book  of,  20  and  note  2. 
Instruction,    informal,     25;      precedes 

memorizing,  97.     See  also  Training. 
Interest,  place  of,  98.     See  also  Cor- 
poral  punishment;   Incentives. 
Isaiah,  referred  to,  36;  as  teacher,  37. 
Isaiah,  Second,  42. 
Israel,  kingdom,    11. 

Jacob,  as  ideal,  20. 

Jamnia,   referred  to,    27. 

Jason,   high  priest,   79. 

Jehoiachin,   referred   to,   41. 

Jehovah,   see  Yahweh. 

Jephthah,  referred  to,   8;  as  ideal,  20. 

Jeremiah,  referred  to,  32;  methods  of, 
37;  public  instruction  in  time  of, 
105. 

Jerusalem,  capital,  9;  rebuilt,'  10,  42; 
worship,  14;  destroyed,  42,  44;  res- 
toration, effect  on  synagogue,  87; 
public  teachers,  94, 


Jesus  ben  Sira,  quoted,  82-83. 

Jesus  of  Nazareth,  debt  to  Hebraism, 

4;  adolescence,  56;  referred  to,  63; 

teachings,   72;   education,  99. 
Jezebel,  Queen,  writing  ability,  116. 
Jael,  referred  to,  iii. 
Jonathan's  son,  referred  to,  22. 
Joshua  ben  Gamala,  86,  92-95. 
Josiah,  reforms  of,   14-15;  effect  upon 

priesthood,  33. 
Judah,  kingdom,   10,   11,  44. 
Judah,  tribe,  9,  10. 
Judaism,   13,  46,  76,  84,  86. 
Judges,  period  of,  8. 
Juvenile  offenders,  51. 


Kan  del,  cited,  93. 
Kingship,  rise,  8ff. 
Kinnor,  25. 
Kohanim,   21. 
Kosetn,  34-35. 


Laurie,  cited,  93-94. 

Law,  oral,  native  period,  25;  devel- 
oped by  Soferim,  84;  favored  by 
Perushim,    85;     origin    and    study, 

I0I-I02. 

Law,  reverenced,   77-78,    102. 

Law,  taught,  25,  31,  34;  on  Sabbath, 
64;  in  conversation,  70;  supreme 
importance,  77;  produces  schools, 
91;  in  synagogue,  88,  89;  encour- 
aged by  Shetach,  93;  complete  mas- 
tery sought,  96;  in  elementary 
schools,  97;  in  higher  schools,  loo- 
102;  in  Temple,    105. 

Law,  written,  adopted,  20;  influence 
on  education,  29,  80,  81. 

Laws,  school,   93-95. 

Legends,   origin,    12;   taught,   34. 

Leipziger,  cited,   93-94  . 

Leisure,   necessary  for  study,   78,   82. 

Lemuel,   referred  to,    52. 

Levites,  as  priests  and  teachers,  22, 
32-34;  teach  music,  105;  Temple 
musicians,    105,    106,    108. 

Leviticus,   taught,   98. 

Libraries,   Babylonian,   42. 

Literature,  evolution,  25-27;  priestly, 
34,  42;  prophetic,  36,  42;  taught  in 
prophetic  communities,  37;  learned 
in  infancy,  63;  morals  taught  by, 
66-67 1     dominates     curriculum,     79; 


132 


EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 


scope,     97.        See    also    Hellenism; 

Law;  Legends;  Myths. 
Lot,  68,  72. 
Love,  divine,   15-16;  paternal,  53. 

Maccabean  period,   11,  43-44. 

Magic,  35,  58. 

Manhood,  primitive  ideal,  20. 

Manners,  education  in,  68-72;  taught 
to  girls,  116. 

Masses,  education,  see  Universal  edu- 
cation. 

Mater  synagogae,  115. 

Matriarchy,   in.     See  also  Mother. 

Meekness,  69. 

Memoriter  work,   63,   97,  98,    loo-ioz. 

Mesa  stone,  28. 

Methods,  native  period,  21;  music, 
dancing,  25;  prophetic,  37;  morals, 
67;  in  synagogue,  88flF;  elementary, 
98;  higher,  1 01-102. 

Meturgeman,  88,  89. 

Mezuzah,  62-63, 

Military  training,   23-24. 

Mishna,   loi  note  69. 

Monarchy,  rise,  8-10. 

Monotheism,  rise,   13-14,    15,   16. 

Moral  education,  native  period,  30-31; 
by  priests,  34;  by  prophets,  38; 
post-Exilic,  66-67;  girls',  116.  See 
also  Manners. 

Moral  virtues,  of  Yahweh,  15-16;  em- 
phasized 30-31,  67,  69,  71,  72;  of 
women,  1 14-1 15. 

Moses,  adolescence,  56;  referred  to, 
69,  108. 

Mother,  as  teacher,  52;  responsibility, 
55;  honored,  67;  status,  111.  See 
also  Wife;  Woman;  Parents. 

Motives  of  education,  89,  116.  See 
also  Incentives  to  study;  Ideals. 

Mount  Sinai,   referred  to,   108. 

Municipal  organizations,  origin,  8. 

Music,  learned  at  home,  24-25,  61, 
116;  uses,  religious,  24-25;  pro- 
phetic,  36;   Temple,    106-108. 

Myths,  nomadic,  12;  taught,  25;  trans- 
mitted, 34. 

Nabi,  34-35- 

Naomi,  referred  to,  22. 

Naming  of  child,  55. 

Nationalism,  dangers  to,   13. 

Nebiitn,  21,  34-35. 

Nebuchadnezzar,  referred  to,   41. 


Nehemiah,  referred  to,  27. 

Neighbors,  treatment,  71-72.  See  also 
Hospitality. 

Nobility,  education,  28. 

Nomadism,  passage  from,  7,  19-20;  in- 
fluence, 11,  12;  occupations,  23; 
priests,  32;  religions,  14;  rites,  58; 
festivals,  103;  woman  under,  11 1. 
See  also  Tribes. 

Notes,  numbering  explained,   119. 

Nurses,  22. 

Obedience  to  parents,  66;  to  the  law 
77- 

Object  lesson,  method,  37;  the  Tem- 
ple as,   107. 

Oral  instruction,  native  period,  25;  in 
synagogue,  89.  See  also  Law,  oral; 
Literature. 

Oratory,  prophetic,  36,  37. 

Order  of  service  in  synagogue,  88-90; 
in  Temple,   105-106. 

Organization   of   schools,    95. 

Orphans,  education,  86,  94,  95. 

Ostentation,  69. 

Palestine,   physical   features,    12. 

Parables,   102. 

Parents,  as  teachers,  22,  50,  63 ;  author- 
ity,     5 1 ;      responsibility,     how     im« 
pressed,    59;    reverenced,    66,    67. 
See  also  Father;   Mother. 

Passover,   65-66,    103,   104. 

Pastoral  occupations,  23. 

Pater  synagogae,    115. 

Patriotism,  26,  45. 

Pentateuch,  89,  98,  99. 

Pentecost,    103,    104. 

Periods  in  child  life,  rites,  54-59. 

Periods,  educational,  6-7,  22,   58-59. 

Periods,  historical,  6,  11. 

Peritz,  quoted,   112. 

Perushim,  85-86. 

Pharisees,  85-86. 

Phylacteries,   57-58,   63,   112. 

Physical  education,  24,  79. 

Play,  23,  24. 

Poets,  prophets  as,  36. 

I'olitical  institutions,  Greek,  43. 

Political  instruction,   34. 

Political  weakness,  influence,  11. 

Polytheism,  12,  14.  See  also  Relig* 
ion. 

Prayer,  in  family,  64  and  note  73;  ia 


INDEX. 


133 


synagogue,  88,  89,  90;  in  Temple, 
105,   106. 

Precepts,  moral,  31,  67,   loi. 

Priesthood,  power,  44-45;  organiza- 
tion, 80. 

Priestly  benediction,  90. 

Priestly  code,  80. 

Priests,  educational  services,  32-34, 
42,  80;  Temple  services,  106. 

Professional  training,  see   Scribes, 

Prophetic  conceptions,  Yahweh,  15-16; 
democracy,  45. 

Prophets,  Books  of,  in  synagogue  ser- 
vice, 88,  89. 

Prophets,  educational  service,  34-38, 
42,  80. 

Proverbs,  Book  of,  as  textbook,  70-98. 

Proverbs,  used  in  moral  instruction, 
d-j,  101. 

Psalms,  moral  instruction,  67 ;  a  school 
text,  98;  used  iii  Temple,  105,   106. 

Ptolemy  I,  referred  to,  43. 

Public  instruction,  104,  105.  See  also 
Universal  education. 

Punishment,  capital,  51;  corporal,  52, 
53. 

Purification  rites,  55. 

Purim,  65,   104. 

Questions,  children's,  63. 
Question  and  answer  method,  102. 

Rabbi,  as  artisan,  60;  title,  84-85. 

Rachel,  referred  to,  49. 

Reading,  origin  and  extension,  27-30; 
in  prophetic  communities,  37;  diffi- 
cult to  learn,  97,  98. 

Rebecca,  referred  to,  49. 

References,  method  of  indicating,  119. 

Reforms,  needed,  35. 

Religion,  Greek,   43. 

Religion,  Hebrew,  nomadic  origins. 
12;  evolution,  13-14;  in  national  life 
12,  77,  85;  in  child's  mind,  63,  99 
basis  of  morals,  66;  basis  of  man 
ners,  68.     See  also  Festivals;  Rites 

Religious  instruction:  native  period, 
30,  34;  in  school,  59;  in  adoles 
ccnce,  58-59;  importance,  62 
through  worship,  88;  divinely  com 
manded,   65;   to  girls,    116. 

Renaissance,  Babylonian,   42. 

Reviews,  98. 

Riddles  taught,  25. 


Riding  taught,  24. 

Rites,  Baal,  14. 

Rites,  entrusted  to  first-bom,  22; 
taught,  26,  31,  34;  overemphasized, 
46;  divide  child  life,  54-59;  educa- 
tional significance,  59;  for  moral 
instruction,  67;  child's  knowledge, 
99;  woman's  place,  112.  See  also 
Festivals 

Roeh,  34-35. 

Roman  period,  44. 

Ruth's  child,  referred  to,  22. 

Sabbath,  worship,  64;  synagogue  ser- 
vices, 87-91. 

Sacrifices:  human,  15;  only  at  Jeru- 
salem, 15;  public,  106;  private,  107. 

Sadducees,  85,  93. 

Sage,  81. 

Salome,  Queen,  referred  to,  92. 

Samuel,  referred  to,  34,  35;  adoles- 
cence, 56. 

Sanhedrin,  45. 

Sai:ah,  referred  to,  49. 

Sargon,  11. 

Saul,  reign  of,  8-9;  death  of  sons,  16; 
as  physical  ideal,  20;  resorts  to 
Samuel,  34. 

Saul  of  Tarsus,  referred  to,  100. 

Schools,   Babylonian,   42,   91. 

Schools,   Greek,   43. 

Schools:  lacking,  native  period,  21; 
post-Exilic,  outline,  60;  elementary, 
91-100;  higher,  100-102;  closed  to 
girls,    lis. 

Scribes,  court,  28. 

Scribes  (Soferim),  educational  ideal, 
78;  as  teachers,  80-84;  schools  of, 
.  100-102. 

Seer,   34-35. 

Seidel,   quoted,    106-107. 

Seleucids,  43. 

Self-control,    69-70. 

Services,  see  Order  of  service. 

Sex  basis  of  education,  21,  79;  mas- 
culine,   privileges,    88,    89. 

Shalmaneser  IV,   11. 

Shammai,   Referred  to,    100. 

Shechem,  referred  to,  11. 

Sheiks,   influence,   8. 

Shema,  learned  in  infancy,  63;  taught 
in  schools,  98;  recited  by  men,  88; 
in  synagogue,  88,  90;  in  Temple, 
105;  forbidden  to  women,   112. 


134 


EDUCATION  IN  ANCIENT  ISRAEL. 


Shetnini  Atzereth,    104. 

Shetach,  claims  of,  92,  93-95. 

Shetach's  son's  martyrdom,  77-78. 

Siloam,   inscription,  29. 

Simeon  the  Just,  referred  to,  81. 

Simlah,   56,   63. 

Simon  ben  Shetach,  see  Shetach. 

Simplicity,  69. 

Social  institutions,  factors  determin* 
ing,   1 1- 16. 

Social  reform,  need  of,  35. 

Sodom,  referred  to,  72, 

Soferim,  see  Scribes. 

Solomon,  reign,  10;  Temple,  31-32. 
See  also  Jerusalem;  Temple. 

Songs,  24,  25,  108.  See  also  Levites; 
Music. 

Sons  of  prophets,  see  Prophets. 

Spiers,  cited,  93-94. 

Stones  as  records,  20. 

Stories,  see  Literature. 

Story-tellers,    professional,    26. 

Succoth,  young  man  of,  referred  to, 
28. 

Summaries  of  chapters,  3,  19,  41,  49, 
75.  "X. 

Symbolical  methods,   37. 

Symbolism  of  Temple,    107. 

Synagogue,  87-91 ;  modeled  after  Tem- 
ple, 105;  woman's  place  in,  112-115. 

Tabernacles,  Feast  of,  103,  104.  See 
also  Festivals. 

Table  manners,   71. 

Tables:  feasts  and  .festivals,  104; 
moral  virtues,  67;  periods,  histor- 
ical, 5 ;  periods,  educational,  7 ; 
schools  and  studies,  60. 

Tallit,   57. 

Talmud,  84,  101  and  note  69;  quoted, 
93;   quoted,  94-95- 

Tatnid,   106. 

Tattooing,  58. 

Teachers,  native  period,  22,  32-38: 
post-Exilic,  outline,  60;  sex,  79; 
ranks,  81;  number,  91;  public,  94, 
95;  per  class,  95;  status,  96;  wages. 
96,  102:  See  also  Bards;  Father; 
Hassan;  Levites;  Mother;  Nurses; 
Parents;  Priests;  Prophets;  Rabbi; 
Scribes;  Tutors. 

Teflllin,  57-s8,   112. 

Tekoa,  referred  to,    111. 

Temple,  Solomon  builds,   lo;  sacrifice. 


14;  rebuilt,  42;  profaned,  43;  after 
the  Exile,  104-108;  teaching  in  court, 
100. 

Temples,  educational  functions,  31. 

Ten  Commandments,  105.  See  also 
Law,  oral. 

Texts,  evolution,  26,  36,  84;  Proverbs 
and  Ecclesiasticus,  52;  in  elemen- 
tary schools,  98.  See  also  Law; 
Literature. 

Three  R's,  28,  29.  See  also  Reading; 
Writing;    Weights  and   measures. 

Titus,  referred  to,  44. 

Totemism,    13. 

Trade  education,  60-61. 

Traditions  taught,    25,   26. 

Training  versus  instruction,  21,  31. 

Tribe,  organization,  8,  9,  10;  dissen- 
sions, 12;  as  educative  institution, 
21;  religion,  14,  24,  56.  See  also 
Nomadism. 

Trumpets,  Feast  of,   104. 

Tutors,  Ahab's  sons',  22. 

Twisted  threads,   57,  63. 

Universal  education,  86-89,  90,  91-95. 
Unleavened  Bread,  Feast  of,  104. 

Weaning,   55. 

Weapons,  training  in  use  of,  23-24. 

Weights  and  measures,  S,  27,  29. 

Wife,  see  Mother;  Woman. 

Woman,  111-115;  as  prophetess,  36; 
status,  51,  52;  in  synagogue,  89,  115. 
See  also   Mother;  Wife. 

Work,  23.  See  also  Industrial  educa- 
tion; Physical  education. 

Worship  of  Baal,   14. 

Worship,  training  in,  34,  80,   103. 

Worship  of  Yahweh,    14-15. 

Writing,  8,  27,  30;  difficult,  98; 
taught  to  prophets,  37.  See  also 
Stones. 

Writings,  the,  27  and  note  31. 

Yahweh,  conception  of,  primitive  and 
prophetic,  15-16,  34;  ethical,  53,  66; 
founder  of  institutions,  77;  sym- 
bolized in  Temple,   107. 

Yahweh,  worship  of,  14-15.  See  also 
Temple;  Worship. 

Zedukim,  85,  93. 
Zekenim,  81. 
Zisit,  57,  63. 


ONE  MONTH  USE 

PLEASE  RETURN  TO  DESK 
FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

,       EDUCATION-PSYCHOLOGY 
.  LIBRARY 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

1 -month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling  642-4209 

Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4  days  prior 

to  due  date. 

ALL  BOOKS  ARE  SUBJECT  TO  RECALL  7  DAYS 

AFTER  DATE  CHECKED  OUT. 


LD  21-lOOm- 


DEC  111975 

V  /"^ 

DEC29HLU'U-9/ 

JVI 

General  Library 
LD  21A-30m-5,'75                      Univewity  of  California 
(S5877L)                                             Berkeley 

f  6^  -VD/ 


YC  48518 


.i 


r^ 


M5G924     ■  lA 


EDUa 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  UBRARY 


